Challinor hails Wootton after his double sinks Crawley

Stockport boss Dave Challinor saluted two-goal striker Kyle Wootton after his side’s hard-earned 2-1 win against struggling Crawley.

Wootton bagged his 10th and 11th goals of the season as play-off chasing County came from behind to seal a third straight victory.

Challinor said: “Kyle was brilliant again. He goes to top scorer now and that’s great for him – he deserves it.

“Some of the treatment he gets from opposition defenders is terrible, he gets fouled all over the pitch.

“But being the lad he is, his temperament is terrific and he doesn’t get flustered and allow it to affect his game.

“He’s been great for us this season and technically he’s very, very good.

“He gives us so much and that includes bringing other players into the game in vital areas.”

On the victory, which maintained County’s seventh place in the table, Challinor added: “It was a bit of an arm-wrestle in the first half, but we were much better in the second.

“We were awful in the first half and their early goal gave them a foothold. It’s probably the worst we’ve been for a while, but we got there in the end.

“That’s a big positive because Crawley are a real threat. They won’t go down.”

Jack Powell curled home a terrific free-kick for Crawley after eight minutes, only for Stockport to swiftly reply as Wootton tapped home a cross from Isaac Olaofe.

It was Wootton who then bagged the winner soon after the restart, condemning Scott Lindsey to a second defeat in four games since he took the helm at Crawley.

Lindsey took heart from his team’s performance and said Crawley won’t fear anyone despite them now being only outside the drop zone on goal difference.

“Of course it was a narrow defeat,” said Lindsey. “I thought we played well, especially in the first half.

“We got onto the front foot, we were aggressive and we were good with the ball in spells.

“We scored a really good goal to get ourselves in front, but then we’ve gone on to concede two bad goals and that’s proved to be costly.

“The first one, we could definitely have done better defending. We’ve matched a really good side, though, and we’ve matched them in many ways.

“It’s about finding a way to win these games for us now. We certainly don’t fear anyone.

“I think we’re capable of beating any side in this division. I’ve seen that already in the four games since I came to the club.

“We competed really well against a good side who are in the play-off positions, but we just didn’t see it through.”