Town miss Tubbs as Crawley are limited to set piece danger alone

Captain and centre-half George said: “He (Tubbs) is one of them players who, when he plays, good, bad or indifferent can always pinch a goal.

“I’m sure he is having a nice rest and enjoying the celebrations (after Crawley were presented with the Blue Square Bet Premier trophy following Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw).

“The two they had up there are no slouches themselves.”

But despite that, Pilkington felt that Crawley’s best chances still came from set-pieces.

He continued: “We weren’t marking as well as we should have done, we weren’t tight, that was their main threat tonight and they didn’t really hurt us.”

Town controlled much of the game after surviving an initial 15-minute blitz from Crawley that saw them race into the lead after just 36 second through Brodie’s strike.

Pilkington said: “After the first 10 or 15 minutes we got back on the front foot and began to dominate.

“The front four or five were causing them all kinds of problems.

“There’s a lot of positives there and we’ll take it into Saturday’s game.”

And he has no problems about standing up to the extra defending boss Gary Brabin is asking him and the back four to do.

Pilkington said: “There’s probably more of an onus on us to get the ball from the back and get playing a little bit.

“For me personally defending is what I’m good at, so it comes naturally to me. Taking responsibility isn’t a problem.

“As a defender you can do 99 things and do one thing wrong and it gets punished.

“He (manager Gary Brabin) wants everyone playing with a smile on our faces and freedom.

“We are working on things and slowly but surely he is implementing small things that happen on the pitch.

“We’ve got to play in the right areas and at the right times and up against the two today they don’t give you any time.

“We are working at it and working hard.”

Pilkington also had an instinctive pop at goal in the second half, but doesn’t believe it was ever going to truly trouble Crawley keeper Scott Shearer after a defender headed clear in the six yard box.

He said: “I think the lad made it look better than it was because it went towards the corner flag!

“We looked the more likely from open play to get the second goal.”

The assured defender has been an almost ever-present for Town this term, but he admitted a long and hard season is starting to take its toll.

He added: “We’ve had lots of games and they are coming thick and fast.

“I feel all right. I normally get 10 to 15 minutes from the end and your legs starts to feel a bit heavy.”