'Only one stat matters' - Crawley Town boss says his side were the better team in 1-0 defeat to Gillingham

Harry Ransom’s own goal in the 40th minute was enough to separate the sides. Reds had a chance to take the lead early but Dom Telford missed from the spot.

Reds dominated the second half and the full time stats showed they had 69 per cent possession and had 17 shots to the Gills seven but they could not find the back of the net. And Lindsey said it was clear his side were the better the team but there was only one stat that mattered.

He said: “Disappointed with the result. I thought we played really well, especially in the second half, thought we created a lot of chances Fair play to them, they had three clean sheets before this game coming into it so we knew it was going to be stingy, and tight in terms of chances. We got the penalty and should have scored that but we didn’t. I thought we were a bit loose in possession at times in the first half, I thought we turned a lot of balls over, especially in the middle of the pitch when we didn’t need to.

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“We made more of a game of it than we needed to. Having said that, I thought we were the better side. We had the better chances but unfortunately the only stat that counts is the score which is 1-0 to them.

“Job done for them but I am really proud of my team, I am really proud of how far we have come in such a short space of time. It's clear to see we are a good side and it’s disappointment is the overriding feeling.”

Lindsey said he is now looking for a reaction from his players. “We learn from every loss,” he said. “What I am going to learn in the next few days is how my team react to a loss, I know how they react to wins and draws now I want to see what we are made of, in terms of we lost a game we potentially should have won and I want to see how we react accordingly to what s going to be a tough game away from home at Swindon.”