Crawley Town have made a flying start to the 2019-20 season after securing a place in the second round of the League Cup.
The West Sussex club beat Walsall at the Bescott Stadium last night 3-2 and continued their solid start to the campaign.
Although they lost their opening fixture away at Carlilse, Gabriele Cioff’s men lead the division in xG data and despite two games being a small sample size, it certainly shows promise for the Red Devils.
Using InStat Football’s xG metric, Crawley are currently sitting on 4.5 with Swindon (4.4) in second and Grimsby (4.1) in third.
Considering the struggles the club had creating chances last season, this will be welcome news to the Broadfield Stadium faithful.
This data does not take into account their clinical performance in last night’s Carabao Cup win, a result that saw the club make it to the second round for the first time in five years.
Speaking after the game, Gabriele Cioff admitted he was proud of his players.
“I think we deserved to win, we could have be more wise in certain moments but me and the staff are proud of the boys,” said the Italian.
“It shows we have 27 or 28 starters and tonight was a demonstration of this.”
When asked about the scoring debut from striker Ashley Nadesan, the Crawley boss suggested the player got what he deserved for his hard work in returning from an ankle injury.
“I am very happy for him because he was a bit unlucky at the beginning of the season and he is a hard worker, he never gives up,” added Cioff.
“Now (his goal) is the right reward for him.”
Crawley were drawn at home to Premier League side Norwich City in the next round as they prepare to face Scunthorpe at the weekend.