Shamir Fenelon believes he can help Crawley Town climb the League Two table after finally opening his account for the club.

The former Albion striker netted on his 20th appearance for Reds with a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle last Saturday.

It was the 21-year-old’s first goal since he was on target for Tranmere Rovers against Accrington Stanley last January – when he was on loan from the Seagulls – and only the fourth in total in a Football League career which has also included temporary spells at Torquay, Rochdale and Dagenham and Redbridge.

Fenelon insists the statistics are misleading, however, and is determined to prove he can be the goalscorer Crawley boss Mark Yates has been desperately searching for since Rhys Murphy returned to Oldham Athletic before Christmas.

The former Republic of Ireland forward has only started four games for Reds since being released by the Seagulls last summer having failed to convert his prolific form at youth level on the senior stage.

And he hopes his late strike against the Pilgrims will convince Yates to give him a run in the team, starting at Leyton Orient this weekend.

Fenelon said: “It felt good to get my first goal for the club and even better that it helped us pick up a point. We really needed a result so I was buzzing to come off bench and score the equaliser.

“It has been a little bit frustrating this season not to have more opportunities but I’ve just tried to keep my head. A lot of the senior boys have helped me do that by encouraging me to just keep going which has been great.

“I’ve not been getting as many minutes as I’d like but I still think there is a place for me in the team so hopefully I can keep reminding the manager I am here.

“There are still lot of games left in the season so if I can keep taking my chances hopefully I can get a few more goals and help us get up that table.”

Fenelon’s last start came in the 2-1 win over Stevenage on Boxing Day and has been on the pitch for just 41 minutes in his four substitute appearances since then prior to Saturday.

And although he has been itching to get out on the pitch as Crawley’s fortunes have dipped the Brighton-born striker has used his watching brief to good effect.

He added: “I felt good on Saturday and I was hoping I would get on earlier than I usually do.

“I was watching the game and thought that if I can get on I know I can cause an impact and help the team because there was a lot of space in behind to run into.

“I do tend to watch games closely when I am on the bench to see where I can have success when I come on and a lot of the time I feel I can have impact.

“Sometimes it doesn’t go to plan but on Saturday it went exactly how I thought it would.

“I have certainly grown up a lot since I came to Crawley. I might not have played that many games but I still feel I have made good progress.

“Getting my first goal will help my confidence now and hopefully I can build on it and get a run going in the team.”