Gregory targets play-offs

Crawley boss John Gregory has set himself a target of challenging for the play-offs next season after drawing 1-1 with Bristol City.

Gregory, who took over from Richie Barker last December, pledged his future to the Red Devils as they closed their season in 14th place with a 1-1 home draw against Bristol City. The former Aston Villa chief admits "a huge challenge" is ahead of him but is relishing the task of improving the Red Devils' fortunes - even though he will be working with a reduced budget. He said: "Signing a new deal is not a decision I've taken lightly and I am pleased with that. It will help me refocus on the job in hand. "I had no hesitation in wanting to stay, providing I could do the job in the manner that I want to do it. That was the most important thing. "So it's full steam ahead; it'll be a hard summer. It wasn't really a difficult decision and I look forward to having a lot of success over the next two years. "Lots of decisions will not be made until July or August. We've got to threaten the play-offs. We want to make a dent in that top six. "It is a huge challenge for me and it will take a lot of work." Striker Jamie Proctor put Crawley on course for their first win in four games with a 25th-minute volley, but midfielder Simon Gillett, on loan from Nottingham Forest, extended City's unbeaten run to six games with a 62nd-minute equaliser. Gregory added: "The draw summed up our season very well. We finish 14th and many parts of our game are very good, but again we didn't take our chances."