Newboy Richard Wood says he is surprised about Crawley’s league position but reckons they have turned the corner in the battle against relegation.

Reds travel to FA Cup giant-killers Bradford tonight looking for a victory that could take them out of the relegation zone.

Wood, on loan from Rotherham, was on target for Crawley in the 1-1 draw against Sheffield United on Saturday and Reds have taken seven points in three league games to suggest a revival is on the cards.

Wood is now preparing himself for a physical battle against Bradford, who have dumped Premier League Chelsea and Sunderland out of the FA Cup this season.

He said: “I am surprised to see Crawley where they are in the table. I don’t know what it was like at the start of the season but in the last few weeks the lads seem to be a lot happier with how things are going.

“They’re a lot more confident, a lot more organised and they know how the gaffer wants the team to play and it’s working. We know how Bradford play with their two big strikers but if we can just get on the ball and be a bit braver and play a bit more then we can do that.

“They (Bradford) have a lot of games coming up so hopefully their fixture pile-up is to our advantage.”

Crawley (probable): Price; Young, Bradley, Wood, Dickson; Tomlin, Fowler, Wordsworth, Edwards; Pogba; McLeod. Subs: Ward, Smith, Bawling, Morgan, Anderson, O’Connor, Jensen.
Bradford (possible): Pickford; Darby, McArdle, Sheehan, Davies; Burke, Knott, Kennedy, Halliday; Hanson, Stead. Subs (from): Clarke, Meredith, Dolan, Zoko, Yeates, Routis, McBurnie, Williams.