Dean Saunders has given the strongest hint yet that he would like to remain as Crawley manager beyond the end of the season.

Saunders was appointed on an interim basis when John Gregory stepped down due to health reasons after Christmas.

The former Wales striker took the role on the understanding that Gregory would return in the summer if his recovery from heart surgery goes to plan.

But Saunders told supporters at a forum at the Checkatrade.com Stadium last night that he would be willing to continue if Gregory decides not to come back.

Saunders said: “I’m in regular contact with John but I don’t really know how he feels. After what he has had done I don’t know if he will want to put himself through it again.

“If the club came to me at the end of the season and said they will give me some time to put together I would find it hard to say no to that.

“If they give me 18 months and I get the right budget I know I can get the club into the Championship because I have done it before with Doncaster.

“We will see what happens but first of all we have got to win seven more games to stay in this division.”

Reds have only won one of the seven games since Saunders took over from Gregory to remain rooted in the League One relegation zone.

However, he remains confident that he can pull off a great escape to enhance his prospects of getting the job on a permanent basis.

Crawley could move to within one point of safety tonight with victory over Doncaster Rovers at the Checkatrade.com Stadium.

Saunders said: “We are not going to suddenly win every game. You don’t go from winning five games all season to suddenly winning seven on the trot or something like that.

“Things like Saturday (2-1 defeat at Yeovil) will happen to us but we have got to make sure we don’t take that into tonight’s game.

“We need to win seven of our last 18 games and I really believe we can do that. It might not be pretty at times but if we work hard we can grind out results.

“I haven't come here to get relegated so I’m not even thinking about that.

“We just need to make sure we get to the last three games of the season within three points of safety. If we can do that we'll have a great chance.”