Guy Whittingham reckons scoring goals again will be a team effort for Crawley.

And their new first team coach should know. He once hit more than 40 in a season for Portsmouth.

The former Pompey striker, coach and, latterly, manager is on board as John Gregory’s new assistant.

He worked with the squad yesterday having seen what they could do when attending last week’s 0-0 draw at Bristol Rovers.

Whittingham has learned a lot of lessons the hard way in charge at Fratton Park over the past year.

But his goalscoring track record goes way back – to the time Gregory followed up Alan Ball’s groundwork to sign him for Portsmouth.

The rest has gone into Fratton folklore.

So can he offer any tips to end that four-match goal drought?

“I’d like to think so,” Whittingham told The Argus last night. “But I don’t think it is especially that. You have got to defend together and score together.

“The manager has plenty of experience of being in sides where they have scored lots of goals.

“I’m there to bounce a few things off him, give my own ideas and hopefully it is something we can improve on.”

Gregory was midway through a tough year in charge at Pompey in 1989 when he bought Whittingham out of the army for £450.

He flung his new boy into an early-season game against Hull and a smart right-foot finish in a 2-2 draw was a taste of things to come.

Full interview in The Argus today. Now see Guy Whittingham's first ever professional goal. It's the first in the accompanying video, for Portsmouth versus Hull City in 1989.