Aldershot Town FC

Aldershot Town manager Dean Holdsworth
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Aldershot Town taking 'big hearts' to Crawley

By Jon Couch
February 09, 2012

ALDERSHOT TOWN boss Dean Holdsworth is under no illusions as to the task that awaits his team when they visit league leaders Crawley Town this weekend.

A 4-2 home victory over Cheltenham on Tuesday night extended the Sussex side's unbeaten run to eight matches and sent them back to the top of the League Two table, while an FA Cup fifth round clash with Premier League Stoke City also lies in store.

On-loan Arsenal midfielder Sanchez Watt, in particular, caught the eye for Steve Evans’ men, sharing the goals equally with the much sought-after Tyrone Barnett - while new striker Billy Clarke, from Blackpool, is another quality front man at this level.

“They’re a fantastic side,” Holdsworth conceded.

“Although we are in the same league on the pitch we are not in terms of finances.

"This club have turned down offers of £2m for their players over the course of the window, we just cannot compete with that spending power.

“Steve [Evans] has done a fantastic job with the money he has had to spend and we know we are going to face a side full of quality on Saturday.

“That said, it’s 11 versus 11 and it comes down to big hearts, desire and ability, and we have that in the squad, as we showed against AFC Wimbledon in our last game. We know what to expect and we'll go there ready for the challenge.”

The Shots will, however, be keeping one eye on the weather this week, with a big freeze like the one that caused last Saturday’s home clash with Bristol Rovers to be postponed being forecast again.

Either way, the Shots go into the Crawley clash without loan midfielder Ben Smith, who is ineligible to play against his parent club.

One man who can play, however, is centre back Sonny Bradley, who has extended his loan from Championship side Hull City for another month after Holdsworth struck an agreement with Tigers’ boss Nick Barmby.