Boss John Gregory jumped to the defence of goalkeeper Paul Jones after his blunder condemned Crawley to a sixth consecutive defeat at Brentford last night.

Jones fumbled Jonathan Douglas’s header over the line for what turned out to be the deciding goal in the 57th minute at Griffin Park.

It followed the former Peterborough goalkeeper’s error which gifted Port Vale their winning goal the previous Tuesday and left Reds precariously positioned above the League One relegation zone.

Gregory said: “Paul has made a big mistake but he was man enough to stand up in the dressing room and admit his error. “A point would have been a good result and it was going according to plan until Paul made a howler which cost us the game but ultimately he is my goalkeeper and I will continue to back him.”

Reds remain three points above the bottom four in 17th place ahead of their trip to MK Dons on Saturday and Gregory added: “We can’t run away from it. We have to pick ourselves up and face the situation full on.”