Claude Davis and his Crawley Crew

Following the game on Saturday it was refreshing to spend some time with Claude Davis the Crawley Town central defender.

Jamaican international Davis, 32, has played for Preston, Derby, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace (costing £5.5 million in transfer fees) in his time and told me that he took a pay cut in order to sign for Crawley in the expectation that the club would gain promotion and he would get his money back - once they had achieved success.

Davis has played over sixty games for his country, but is also prepared to put his international ambitions on the back burner to play his part in Crawley’s League Two promotion push.

The 6’ 2” defender told me that while he would have to make himself available for any important games such as World Cup qualifiers, he would be putting Crawley first when it came to friendly fixtures. Good news for Red Devils fans if his solid performance on Saturday is anything to go by.

I also saw Davis play against Oxford in the first fixture of the year and remember how impressed some Us fans were with him ... even though little Alfie Potter up-ended him at one point in the game!

Top travel tip: While we were talking, Claude did his bit for the Jamaican Tourist Board and was recommending that anyone who visited the island spent time in Negril which he thought was wonderful!

A lot of attention is being paid to 17 goal striker Matt Tubbs this season and understandably so, but Crawley are a good all round outfit . In fact manager Steve Evans was keen to point out that they haven’t just thrown money at the project. He explained that they had sold one player for £200,000 and spent £150,000 and so suggested that some people in the game buy themselves new calculators if they thought the club were spending excessively.

Pablo Mills looks comfortable alongside Davis while midfielder David Hunt and substitute Scott Neilson also caught my eye on Saturday. And Tyronne Barnett - who looks handy and plays up front with Tubbs - can be a lethal finisher as Oxford found out when he blasted in a sublime equalising volley in the dying seconds of the game at the Kassam.

The race for the League Two promotion places is going to be very interesting this season, but I suspect that if Evans signs the two players he was suggesting he needed on Saturday, Crawley will be in that top three.