Charlie Mapes believes he still has a long-term future with Crawley.

The 22-year-old midfielder joined Canvey Island on loan until the end of the season on Friday after finding his first-team chances limited at Reds.

The former Wycombe professional is disappointed to have left the Broadfield Stadium but has not ruled out a return.

He said: "I had a talk with (manager) Francis (Vines) the day before I left and he told me not to make any decisions about my long-term future yet.

"He made it clear he still wants me at Crawley and I would like nothing better than to stay. Hopefully, that can happen but I have said before that I need to be playing regularly, first and foremost.

"It was great to start for Canvey on Saturday and there is a great chance of playing week-in, week-out which was not what I was getting before.

"I'm going to try and concentrate on playing for Canvey for the rest of the season and then see what the situation at Crawley is before I decide what to do."

Mapes has been denied the chance to prove a point to Vines tonight. Canvey meet Reds in the GLS Conference Cup third round at Park Lane but Mapes is ineligible due to league regulations, despite Crawley giving him permission to play.

Mapes said: "I've been told the rules say you are not allowed to play against your own club when you go out on loan.

"I'm disappointed. It would have been good to see how I did against my team-mates but it probably would have been quite strange as well."

Reds defender Sacha Opinel is looking forward to playing Canvey after meeting them three times already this season.

The Frenchman faced the Essex club twice with former club Farnborough, scoring in a 1-1 draw in December, and was on target again for Reds on his home league debut in a 2-1 win in January.

Opinel said: "I have played Canvey a lot this season and they are probably sick of seeing me because I have scored a few goals against them.

"Hopefully I can do it again because this is a game we want to win. It is always good to do well in cups and Francis has told us we need to win every game to get momentum going, which will help us in the league."

The competition is new for this season and includes all the sides from the Conference national, north and south divisions.

They are split into southern and northern sections with five rounds plus a semi-final being played. The winners of each section meet in a north v south final.

The draw has already been mapped out and Reds are due to play Margate at home if they beat Canvey.

They will then face Stevenage away in the fifth round and either Woking or Forest Green in the semi-final.

Vines is expected to give fringe players a chance with Saturday's crucial league game against Barnet in mind.

Striker Charlie MacDonald and midfielder Paul Armstrong are eligible after serving one-match suspensions.

Crawley: Andy Little, Ryan Palmer, Nick Burton, Ian Simpemba, Sean Hankin, Sacha Opinel, John Robinson, Paul Armstrong, Dan Platel, Charlie MacDonald, Dan Marney.

Subs from: Phil Smith, Ben Judge, Fouhade Belaid, Rob Kember, Joe Healy, Simon Wormull.

Canvey: Danny Potter, Tom Williamson, Dominic Sterling, Dave McGhee, Steve Ward, Jon Keeling, Jeff Minton, Chris Duffy, Steve Burton, Ollie Berquez, Lee Boylan.

Subs from: Ashley Harrison, Junior McDougald, Dave Theobald, Mario Noto, Neil Gregory.