Marvin Elliott has been backed to show his class after hitting a “brick wall” in the last few weeks.

Elliott was left out of Crawley’s squad altogether for their 1-1 draw at Gillingham last Saturday following a tired display in the victory over Walsall in the previous game.

Boss John Gregory dismissed any suggestion that Elliott was carrying an injury but admitted he was concerned he had pushed the Jamaica international too hard since signing him on a short-term contract six weeks ago.

Elliott had not tasted competitive action since breaking his ankle in February before joining up with Reds but made an instant impact with an impressive display at Preston before scoring both goals in the 2-0 win over Yeovil on his home debut.

The 30-year-old’s performances have dipped noticeably since then and Gregory believes playing every minute of seven matches in the space of four and a half weeks pushed him beyond the limit.

Elliott was also given a night off as Reds beat St Francis Rangers 6-2 in the Sussex Senior Cup on Tuesday but will be back in the squad for the visit of Crewe tomorrow even though Gregory admits it could be another month before he is fully up to speed.

The Reds boss said: “Marvin had been out for such a long time and was thrown straight back into it. By playing quite a lot of games in a short space of time it was always going to have an adverse affect.

“It was going to hit him at some stage and he was asked to do a slightly different job the other night (against Walsall) with Keith (Keane) suspended but he did it to the best of his ability.

“Although he was probably not at his best he made a massive contribution to us winning the game as he did a lot of the ugly things which sometimes go unnoticed.

“There is a lot more to come from Marvin yet and over the next few weeks and after Christmas I think we’ll see him kick on again. He might have hit a bit of a brick wall but he’ll get over it as he is a quality player.”

Read the full article on Marvin Elliott in The Argus today