Defender Mat Sadler says Crawley must bounce back immediately from their first league defeat since Boxing Day to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle.

Crawley still have ambitions of challenging for the play-offs due to the number of games they have in hand but defeat at Gillingham saw them slip to 16th in League One, just four points above the drop zone.

Reds travel to second-bottom Shrewsbury Town tomorrow night and Sadler admits they need a win to ensure their sights remain on the top half of the table rather than looking nervously over their shoulders.

Sadler said: “If you lose a game like that you have got to win the next one so it is forgotten and that has got to be our intention.

“With games coming thick and fast if we can get three points at Shrewsbury we would be happy as we would probably have taken two draws (from Gillingham and Shrewsbury games) before they were played.

“This division is such that anyone can beat anyone and that is why there is such an almighty scrap in the bottom 14 of the table. We need to get a few results to get us out of that zone and into mid-table so our main focus now will be to put in a performance away from home and put things right.”

Sadler refused to point the finger at Billy Clarke and Jamie Proctor after they missed golden opportunities prior to Charlie Lee’s 88th minute winner for Gillingham and instead backed them to make amends in forthcoming games.

He added: “We had some gilt-edged chances to win the game. They (Proctor and Clarke) will be as disappointed as anyone so they will be desperate to put that right and have a fantastic opportunity to do that tomorrow.”