Crawley boss John Gregory has apologised for going public with his criticism of Albion winger Jeffrey Monakana.

Gregory claimed Monakana, who is on a month’s loan with Crawley from the Seagulls, was in danger of wasting his talent unless he improved his fitness.

The Reds boss says he was just trying to help the 20-year-old make the most of his potential but admits he went too far with his comments after last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Crewe.

Gregory said: “The point I was trying to make is that he is a talented boy who is at the crossroads of his career and if he can sort himself out then he has a bright future. I was just trying to make a point and wasn’t intending it to be as public as that.

“The biggest thing that hurts me is people who have a lot of talent who waste it but I probably didn’t explain myself well enough. I came out too critical of the boy and there is no way I intended to be critical of his club.

“I shouldn’t have been too critical of somebody who belongs to another club. That was wrong on my part so I want to apologise if what I said was misconstrued in any way.”