Chief executive Michael Dunford has urged Crawley fans to be patient as the club attempt to emerge from a turbulent period.

Reds have bowed out of two cup competitions in disappointing fashion in the last week and travel to Oldham Athletic today in 15th place in League One.

Crowds at the Checkatrade.com Stadium have dropped by more than 1,000 as supporters turn their backs on a team which was completely overhauled in the summer.

A section of fans called for manager John Gregory to be sacked during the disastrous 2-1 JP Trophy defeat to ten-man Gillingham on Tuesday night.

There was further consternation when club captain Josh Simpson was placed on the transfer list along with four other players on Thursday.

Dunford admits he can understand why feelings are running high among supporters but has called on them to give Gregory more time to turn things around.

Dunford said: “I can understand fully the fans’ frustration as we share that frustration. They are entitled to their opinion even if sometimes we don’t like it very much.

“I think it is a minority of fans (who chanted for Gregory to be sacked) but you get that at all clubs. If they pay to watch the football club they can say what they want.

“When the crowds are smaller and they are closer to the pitch the criticism is amplified as you can hear every word that is shouted. If there were 5,000 people in the ground you probably wouldn’t hear it.

“It would be foolhardy to say we are not disappointed but there is no point having recriminations or looking for a scapegoat “The reality is we are in a very competitive division and at the moment we are experiencing a few difficulties but there is a long way to go this season yet.

“We haven’t even got to the end of November and I would urge people to wait until April before they make their judgment.

“It could well be that we don’t see the full benefits of what happened over the summer until next season. I think when you have the kind of turmoil and turnover of players we had there is always going to be a period of transition.

“I don’t want people to think we are making excuses for this season and pushing it down the road as I’m not.

“Everybody is disappointed with aspects of this season but we have got to try to put it right and nobody wants to do that more than the board and John.”

Reds travel to Oldham today aiming for a first away win since the opening day of the season.

A third successive defeat would push them closer to the relegation zone but a win could lift them into the top half of the League One table.

Dunford accepts that recent performances have not been acceptable but is confident Gregory is still capable of achieving his target of finishing inside the top ten this season.

He said: “We are out of both cup competitions which is disappointing but our bread and butter is the league. Even though results have not been great we are only seven points off the play-offs.

“It was always going to be a difficult season. It has been slightly more difficult than we anticipated but John still genuinely feels that a challenge for the play-offs is possible.

“People may say that is ridiculous after some of our recent results but the table doesn’t lie. We are still optimistic. We’d love to finish in the top half and that has still got to be our target because as soon as you stop aiming high it becomes very dangerous.

“The first challenge for any club is to stay in the division with the possible exception of the likes of Preston, Bristol City and Sheffield United who have resources which far outstrip ours.

“We want to get to that 50-point mark as soon as possible and then push on from there. It would be great if we could finish in our highest ever position (tenth in 2013).

“People might laugh and I can understand that. People might think it is a pipe dream but that is what you have to aim for and the day John stops believing it is possible we will have a problem.”