Crawley are today celebrating Conference survival. Reds beat the drop despite defeat at Stevenage.

Forest Green Rovers' goalless draw against Exeter and Tamworth's 1-0 defeat at Hereford mean John Hollins' side can no longer be caught.

It is a phenomenal achievement considering their desperate position two months ago.

Crawley were marooned at the bottom and plunged into off-the-field chaos when a financial crisis resulted in the players' wages being cut in half.

But Hollins and his team were in no mood to pop open the champagne yesterday after suffering their first defeat in eight games.

Hollins said: "It is not really a relief because I knew we had already solved the problem. I'm more concerned about losing our run.

"I'm disappointed because I want to win every game and want to finish the season with as many points as possible.

"It makes no difference if we are safe or not, I don't like losing games."

Captain Danny Brown added: "I'm not happy that we are now definitely safe because we should not have been in that position in the first place.

"We have underachieved this season so it is hard to feel happy about it. We already knew we were out of it because of the good run and everyone is disappointed that it has come to an end."

After guiding Reds to safety, something many pundits thought impossible not so long ago, many fans are calling for Hollins to stay for next season.

He joined without a contract in November and has hinted he wants to stay beyond the summer. But he will not commit himself until the current campaign is over.

He said: "I'm concentrating on finishing this season on a positive note. I want to win our remaining three games and put us in good stead for the start of next season.

"That is my main concern at the moment."

Reds have scrapped their way out of trouble thanks to performances based on hard work and organisation.

They produced another at Broadhall Way, before running out of steam in the second half.

They responded well to going behind to a fourth-minute Jefferson Louis strike. The former Lewes and Worthing striker blasted past Phil Smith from just inside the area following a counter-attack from a corner.

Danny Ekoku levelled on 21 minutes with his first league goal for the club. The lanky frontman outmuscled Adam Miller for a ball over the top and hooked over on-rushing keeper Alan Julian.

Hollins says it was a miracle Ekoku was on the field at all.

The 20-year-old was in hospital on Sunday with an attack of asthma but was forced to play due to a recurrence of a hamstring injury to Chris Giles in the warm-up. Hollins believes Ekoku's performance summed up the dogged spirit that has helped Crawley survive.

He said: "He is not well at all. He was in hospital because he suffers from asthma badly and ran himself into the ground on Saturday.

"It was a major achievement he was able to play another 90 minutes. Full credit to Danny for showing a lot of guts to play. That sums up the courage of the players and is why we have done so well."

Reds suffered a second-half battering before Louis netted the winner 13 minutes from time.

Darryn Stamp should have scored with two headers, one which he somehow sent wide from close range and the other which was well saved by Smith.

Louis gave his play-off chasing side a deserved victory with an unmarked header after Stamp flicked on a long throw.

Reds still had a chance to snatch a point late on but Steve Burton's shot was blocked on the line from a corner.

Hollins said: "We dropped off in the second half but I thought we were unlucky not to get a point. Dave Woozley was meant to pick up Louis for the goal but had just come on the pitch after treatment for a head injury.

"He wasn't able to get in position and they scored. It was disappointing but we will dust ourselves down and be up for the next game."