Crawley boss welcomes back McNerney

Joe McNerney takes a shot from close range for Crawley Town against Exeter City, 28th March 2016. (c) Jack Beard SUS-160328-173844008

Reds boss Mark Yates was delighted to see central defender Joe McNerney finally get on the pitch having been out of the side since October due to a knee injury.

Although Crawley lost Easter Monday’s match 2-0 at home to Exeter City, the former Woking player’s return from the substitutes’ bench in place of Jon Ashton with 11 minutes to go was a welcome boost.

Yates said: “It’s great to have Joe back. Like Lanre Oyebanjo, Joe has been out for a lot of the season and he’s been desperate to return.

“He had 90 minutes against Portsmouth in a friendly a couple of weeks ago, so Monday was another step forward. We’ve got another seven games and I’m sure Joe is keen to finish the season strongly.”

McNerney said: “I’ve not been much fun to be around in the last few months. Like Banj, I have never been out for this length of time and it’s extremely tough mentally as well as physically with the rehab work you have to do.

“But I felt fine on Monday and hopefully I can get plenty of games between now and the end of the season.

“For me it almost feels like the season’s starting not nearly finished and I want to play in as many games as I can – hopefully starting at Bristol Rovers this Saturday.”