John Yems praises Crawley’s second-half performance in Port Vale stalemate

Posted Sunday, December 15, 2019 by PA

New head coach John Yems praised his Crawley side for an improved second-half performance after his tenure began with two goalless draws.

The Reds followed their 0-0 draw at Stevenage with another stalemate at home to Port Vale and Yems was anxious to concentrate on the positives as their winless Sky Bet League Two run stretched to eight games.

Yems, 60, who has returned for a second spell in charge until the end of the season, said:” I’m pleased with the second half.

“After the first half, it was a great response. We haven’t really had a whole week (together) and basically you are trying to organise them.

“Lee Bradbury (assistant head coach) is good with them and we’re trying to show them good habits.”

Yems, who recently worked under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, is optimistic for the remainder of the season and added: “If you give 100 per cent then it’s up to other people to make decisions for you.”

“I’m happy to go day-to-day, week-to-week. We’ve got 30-odd players and most of them will be involved. The owner supports the club and being back in football is very good.”

Vale boss John Askey praised goalkeeper Scott Brown for producing some excellent one-on-one saves as his side gained a valuable point.

Askey felt it was a good response following their first home league defeat of the season against Walsall, and said: “It is a point gained.

“The last thing we wanted was to go back with nothing. There are signs of us getting to where we want to be.

“There were spells when we created good football and we are going into the next home game firing on all cylinders.”

Askey admitted that Brown came to the rescue in the second half and added: “A couple of mistakes led to one-on-ones, but luckily for us Scott had one of those days and was excellent.

“The Crawley keeper pulled off some good saves at the other end but I don’t know if it was poor finishing or good goalkeeping. In the end, we rode our luck a bit, but it is a point gained.”

Askey wants his side to control games better going into the second half of the season, and said: “We need a bit more movement.

“We haven’t been as fluid as before but you hit these patches during the season. If we do things right, we’ll be OK.”