CRAWLEY Town boss Gabriele Cioffi felt his side’s performance at Southend United was one he had been waiting for.

The Italian had lost all four of his previous away games since being appointed at the start of September.

And he was happy with the way Crawley battled back from a slow start at Roots Hall to take the first round tie to a replay.

“It was a battling performance and it was one we have been waiting for,” said Cioffi, who was booked for protesting against Ollie Palmer’s disallowed goal in the first half.

“We wanted to show we are a squad and that we want to play every game like there is no tomorrow and have no regrets which I think we did.

“No doubts they are stronger than us, that’s the club, the players, the staff and the environment.

“We’re a small club and the only thing we can do is fight which is what we did.”

As a result, Crawley were rewarded with a late equaliser when Blues defender John White put the ball into his own net just moments after Town’s Joe McNerney had hit the crossbar.

But Cioffi was quick to praise the spirit of his team who sit 12th in the League Two standings.

“I can say well done to my players,” said the 43-year-old.

“At the beginning of the game we were scared, maybe because of the away games we’ve had recently and the scores we’ve had.

“But we showed real will and spirit and the goal was perfect for us at the end.

“We also tried to score a second after that but we can look forward to another game with Southend now.”