John Gregory has challenged his Crawley players to pick up where they left off on Saturday when they go into FA Cup action tonight.

The Reds produced a stirring comeback to draw 2-2 with Preston at the weekend in Gregory’s first home match in charge.

Now he wants more of the same for tonight’s televised FA Cup second round replay with League Two side Bristol Rovers when the prize for the winners will be a trip to Championship side Birmingham in the next round.

That tie would hold extra significance for former Aston Villa boss Gregory, above, who has drawn his first two matches as Crawley manager including a 0-0 stalemate away to Bristol Rovers.

However, Gregory believes the result will take care of itself if his players produce the sort of performance they showed after going 2-0 down against Preston.

He said: “Everyone was delighted afterwards. We finished in the ascendancy and it felt like a victory. We now need to keep that going on Wednesday for what will be a very hard game.

“The boys set the standard I want in every game with how they played in the second half and, to be fair, the last 20 minutes or so of the first half too. There was a tempo and momentum to our play and the fans responded.”

Bristol Rovers are third from bottom in League Two, just a point above the relegation zone, and with just two away wins to their name this season.

They will be without midfielder Seanan Clucas due to a knee injury but Gregory is still expecting a tough tie.

He said: “They will come here thinking they can get a result. They have got some good players as we saw in the first meeting and there is a massive incentive for both clubs with a trip to St Andrew’s in the third round which both clubs would relish.

“The boys can’t wait. Did we turn a corner on Saturday? Only time will tell but the players are really positive and we have to take that mindset into this game from the first whistle.”

Crawley have no injury worries or suspensions going into the game.