Gabriele Cioffi revealed Crawley had practised penalties after their shootout victory over Championship strugglers Stoke City.

After dumping Norwich out in the previous round, the Reds' head coach masterminded another famous night at The People's Pension Stadium as Crawley booked a place in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup.

Under-fire Nathan Jones' Potters were knocked out 5-3 on penalties after the tie had finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.

Crawley were successful with all five of their penalties, Sam Vokes having missed Stoke's second kick, and Cioffi said they had been practising.

He added: "I trust the boys. I know we have good penalty takers. I have trusted them since day one of the season.

"We have started on a path and that is to work - we are on the right track.

"We are a side that will score goals and we have the right attitude and mentality. This was a great victory for the club and myself."

Vokes had given Stoke the lead midway through the first half, but Nathan Ferguson replied before the interval and Stoke were forced to play the final 30 minutes with 10 men after Nathan Collins received a straight red card.