Steve Evans has praised Sam Rents for successfully adjusting to the demands of the Blue Square premier.

But he admitted the former Albion defender could have no complaints about the red card which will put his place in the side under threat.

Rents has only missed one league game since joining Crawley in the summer but he starts a three-match suspension against Ebbsfleet tomorrow night after he was sent off in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Cambridge.

And with Adam Quinn fit to return after a calf injury and Jake Wright or Chris Giles capable of slotting in at left-back, the 21-year-old could find it tough to get his place back.

Evans said: “It can be hard for players dropping down to this level and some don’t adapt at all because they can’t get used to opponents being in your face all the time.

“Sam was like that to begin with but we had some long chats with him and he has has adapted parts of his game and come through the other side.

“The disappointing thing for Sam is that he was having his best game for us on Saturday until he went in for a stupid challenge.

“He’s got a three-game ban but it should have been 33 when you look at the challenge. It was shocking and not like Sam because normally he couldn’t tackle a fish supper that’s been wrapped twice!

“Sam gives you great quality going forward and his left foot is like a wand at times but he got caught in two minds and can have no complaints about the red card.”

The versatile Wright will probably slot in at left-back in Rents’ absence and Evans is pondering whether to retain the 4-4-2 formation he employed against Cambridge.

Jon-Paul Pittman, restored to his preferred role down the centre alongside Steve Fletcher, was on target but Evans believes his side need to be more ruthless in front of goal if they are to improve a sequence which has seen them pick up five points from their last six games and drop from top of the table to seventh.

“We are back to playing well after a couple of games when we were missing key players,” said Evans. “The players have worked hard to put things right.

“Our performance on Saturday was great but we need to take our chances and be a bit more ruthless.

“We need to build some momentum between now and Christmas because, looking at the fixtures, I really fancy us to pick up some points in January. We need to stick in there now. We’ve had some hard games and have a couple of tough ones on the horizon.”

Top scorer Jamie Cook is back in full training after recovering from a groin problem but he is only likely to start on the bench but Isaiah Rankin is still two weeks away from a return to action.

Ebbsfleet ended a run of five successive defeats with a last-minute 1-0 win over Barrow on Saturday and are likely to be unchanged with Sussex-based Lance Cronin in goal.

Crawley (from): Rayner, Wilson, Quinn, Giles, Wright, Pinault, Bulman, Weatherstone, Malcolm, Pittman, Fletcher, Killeen, Forrest, Stevens, Dayton, Mills.

Ebbsfleet (from): Cronin, Ricketts, Slatter, Smith, Charles, Opinel, Murray, Barrett, Stone, Long, Purcell, Gash, Ibe, Moore, Mott, Pooley.