Harry Kewell wants to see a reaction to a painful midweek defeat.

And that means his Crawley players having the confidence to play the way he loves best.

The Reds boss admitted he would need time to work out what went wrong in Tuesday’s 2-1 reverse to Newport County.

He could not understand why his team got involved in a route-one slugfest in the second half and he said he was bored by the spectacle which resulted.

The chance to put things right comes quickly, with Carlisle due at the Checkatrade Stadium tomorrow.

Reds conceded two soft goals to Newport but perhaps even more disappointing was the way they were drawn into a long-ball battle.

They have played good football at times – and created a host of first-half chances when they won 2-1 at Barnet last Saturday.

Kewell was asked by The Argus what he now wanted to see against the Cumbrians.

He replied: “I want to see a reaction but it’s easy to say that – let’s have a reaction.

"What I want to see is confidence. They are confident men.”

Reds have lost four of their five home games.

But it is only a week ago that they turned in an excellent away performance at the Hive.

Kewell said: “Barnet had an idea of how they wanted to play but we stopped that and we played our way.

“We created chances but it’s very tough to blame people when they get in front of goal and don’t score.”

Team selection will be intriguing, not least in midfield.

But Kewell has no complaints about the efforts of his players, including those who have been outside his matchday 18s.

And he remains confident those efforts will pay off.

He said: “If I could play all of them, I would. I can’t complain with any one of my players. They are all working hard.

“We will get there!”

Former Reds favourite Nicky Adams has been a regular for Carlisle this season though he has yet to score.

The Cumbrians’ up-and-down week has matched that of Crawley, winning 5-0 at Crewe last Saturday but losing 2-0 at home to Stevenage in midweek.