Mark Yates has accused his players of clocking off early.

The Crawley Town boss is not referring to a miserable run of form since securing their League Two survival although he could be considering they have taken just two points from their last seven games.

Reds will look to end a run of five straight defeats when they taken on Carlisle United at home today with Yates keen to eradicate a recurring problem that has been their downfall on too many occasions this season.

Crawley have conceded a staggering 17 goals five minutes either side of the half-time interval with the weakness rearing its ugly head again in the 2-1 defeat at Northampton Town on Tuesday night when Ricky Holmes fired the Cobblers in a 48th-minute lead from the spot.

A fortnight ago Reds were leading 1-0 at home to promotion chasing Oxford United only to concede in the run-up to the break on their way to a 5-1 drubbing.

Statistics can often be misleading but the fact that Crawley have leaked 21% of their league goals in a ten minute segment – equivalent to 11% of a game – cannot be ignored.

Yates said: “There is no disgrace in losing to Northampton as they are the best team we have played this season without a shadow of a doubt.

“The frustrating thing is that we kept them at bay for 45 minutes and then conceded a needless penalty three minutes after half-time.

“That summed our season up really and is something we need to sort out.

“We know we have conceded two many goals either side of half-time and it is something I talked to the boys about yesterday.

“There might not be a great deal we can do about it with only three games left this season but the players need to learn from it whether they are still at Crawley next year or have moved on to another club.

“I’ll be looking for a 90 minute performance today as if you switch off at all you get punished.

“We have been competitive in most of the games we have played this season but lapses in concentration at important times have cost us.”

Yates denies his players have taken their foot off the gas in the last six weeks since the threat of relegation was put to bed.

And he is calling for one final push over the last three games to ensure a first satisfactory season in the hotseat at the Checkatrade.com Stadium does not end on a sour note.

Reds are currently 18th in the League Two table but could finish as low as 22nd – just above the relegation zone – if they fail to halt their recent slump.

Yates said: “That would be massively disappointing and would not reflect the season we have had.

“It’s been really tough this year with the things we have had to deal with and I just think that it is starting to catch up with us now.

“We don’t want to go into the summer on a bad run so it is up to us to stop the rot.

“We’ve got a chance to put in a good performance in front of our own fans against Carlisle today but we know it is going to be tough as they are a good team.

“They bullied us at their place earlier in the season so I’ll be looking to send out a team which will be strong and competitive while also being capable of causing them a few problems.”

Reds have scored just two goals in their last five games and will still be missing top scorer Matt Harrold today along with on-loan Wolves striker Liam McAlinden through injury.

Midfielder Andy Bond begins a three-match ban – ruling him out for the rest of the season – following his red card at Northampton.