Boss Dean Saunders admits the next seven days could make or break Crawley’s hopes of staying in League One.

Reds kick off what is shaping up to be a pivotal week at the bottom of the table when they take on fellow strugglers Colchester United today.

The importance of the result at the Weston Homes Community Stadium is amplified by the fact that the other two sides in the bottom four – Leyton Orient and Yeovil Town – also clash this afternoon.

Crawley are then due to take on Orient at home next Saturday following their midweek trip to Port Vale while Colchester play Yeovil on Tuesday.

Saunders said: “It is a big week for all the teams at the bottom of the table and if we can get the right results then we could be looking down rather than up.

“We have got three games coming up which are really important so we have to make sure we take the momentum we have got from the last few performances and turn it into results.

“Things can change so quickly but by the end of the week the picture will be a lot clearer.

“There are some teams who might look safe at the moment but if they don’t pick up any points they can be sucked back into the bottom six of seven all of a sudden.

“Crewe have got tough two games coming up in Preston and Bristol City while there is always one team who goes on a really bad run at the end of the season.”

Saunders rates today’s game as “probably our most important of the season” and it is easy to understand why.

Colchester are above Crawley on goal difference and whoever wins would open up a three-point gap on the other side in the battle to beat the drop.

In contrast defeat to one of your closest rivals would severely dent confidence going into what is a decisive stage of the season.

Saunders said: “It is such a big game for both teams. It is a real six-pointer.

“In the last three or four games our confidence levels have gone up.

“We’ve played well against a lot of big teams but I’ve said to the lads that it doesn’t really matter how we play, we’ve just got to get points in the bag.

“We’ve got to start winning games. We don’t want to give Colchester any points so a draw wouldn’t be a total disaster but we have got to be looking to win the game.

“Losing to Bristol City didn’t affect the bottom of the league apart from us going empty-handed but now we can damage the opposition as well as helping ourselves.

“I think both teams realise they don’t want to lose so there could be a cautious mentality a little bit but it would be massive if we could get the three points.

“We played well against Bristol City last week but ended up with nothing but I’m sure if we produce a similar performance again then we will be okay.”