John Gregory believes Crawley can hold their heads high despite suffering a frustrating third defeat in a row.

The Reds followed losses against Oldham and Sheffield United with a 1-0 reverse away to high-flying Preston.

Crawley had chances to take at least a draw from the game but were wasteful in front of goal.

Gregory was quick to point out the comparative resources between his club and Preston who all but secured a play-off place with their victory.

The Reds boss said: “When I look at Preston they have a budget of about £4.5million, which puts our budget in the shade somewhat. They were no better than us today.

“They are playing in a magnificent stadium on a fantastic pitch, all the facilities are first-class, I believe they fly to quite a lot of the games down south as well so it just shows you how the rich live in this league.

"Yet out there on the field there was just one goal between us. We can hold our heads up high and make sure we get something at Port Vale on Tuesday.”

Kyle McFadzean serves the second of his two-match ban away to Port Vale tomorrow.

Gregory is hopeful Matt Tubbs and Paul Connolly, who missed the Preston game with fatigue-related injuries, could come back into contention.