Crawley boss Billy Smith has accused Kent League club Deal Town of "taking a bit of a liberty" after they signed Allan Tait on an 18 month contract.

Tait was released from prison this week after serving ten months of a two-year sentence after he was convicted of unlawful assault.

During his sentence at Dover Young Offenders Institution Tait was asked to play for Deal by their manager Simon Bryant, a PE instructor at the jail.

Smith had hoped the former Spurs professional, who lives in Forest Row, would return to Crawley after his release, but the 20-year-old has pledged his future to Deal after scoring 17 goals in 15 games.

Smith said: "All the time Allan has been in prison the club have kept in touch with him.

"We told him the door would be open for him when he came out. We won't stand in his way whatever he decides but Deal have taken a bit of a liberty really. The first I knew about the Deal thing was when I got a phone call from a reporter, the least they could have done was make a phone call."

Tait, who was released by Spurs in 2000, had a few games for County League East Grinstead before switching to Crawley where he scored 19 goals in the reserves and was on the verge of a first team breakthrough.

"Allan was coming along nicely and I think he would have had a look in at first team level. But if it doesn't work out then he will be welcome to come back to Crawley," said Smith.

Those sentiments have been echoed by Grinstead manager Bob Smith while Peacehaven were also tracking the striker.

Meanwhile, league officials will soon give Crawley's council-owned Broadfield Stadium the go-ahead to stage Conference football after carrying out an inspection of their facilities this week.

I understand some minor work needs to be carried out but managing director Steve Duly expects everything to be in place before their next visit in April.

He said: "The visit went very well and the stadium passed on all but four minor requirements which have now been passed to Crawley Borough Council for review.

"It is a credit to Crawley Borough Council that the stadium is of such a high grading now and that the stadium was made to Conference standard when it was built in 1997. The changes required are only due to recent changes in Conference regulations."

Now, it seems, all Smith's men have to do is hold off their rivals at the top of the Dr Martens Premier.

Reds went into today's home game with lowly Salisbury on the back of two defeats. They lost 4-2 at home to Welling last Saturday before crashing out of the League Cup on penalties in midweek after a 2-2 draw against eastern division Ashford.

He was planning to switch from a 4-4-2 formation to 3-5-2 this afternoon, employing Stewart Holmes and Ian Payne as wingbacks.

The choice of Payne is something of a surprise especially as Smith has used Nigel Brake and Jimmy Dack down the left in recent games.

But neither has particularly impressed. Dack, clearly not fully recovered from a knee injury, has been substituted in the last two games while Brake's ability to go past players appears to have deserted him for the time being.

"Ian's not a natural leftback but he's one of the best passers of the ball at the club," added Smith. "We don't seem to be hurting teams enough in wide areas at the moment. Against Welling everything was too narrow and that suited them down to the ground."

Reds entertain Ringmer in the quarter-final of the Sussex Floodlight Cup (7.45pm) on Tuesday.