Crawley boss Richie Barker admits he had to use some harsh words at half-time as Reds were held 2-2 by Shrewsbury Town at home.

Reds went in 2-1 down at the interval despite taking the lead after just 43 seconds through Josh Simpson.

Barker's men lost their way after such a positive start and could have no complaints when Shrewsbury took the lead through Matt Richards and Jon Taylor.

Crawley did improve after the restart and secured a point when Simpson fired home his second with nine minutes to go.

Barker said: "Sometimes you can score too early and maybe we started to think it was going to be easy. I had to have a few words at half-time and I think I got the response I was looking for.

"In the second half we controlled the game and although it got a little bit scrappy we spent 85% of it in their half. They defended in numbers and made it difficult but I think we deserved a point in the end."