New Crawley Town boss Mathew Etherington hopes having his first two games in charge at home can mean his side start in the best possible way.

Etherington was named Lewis Young's replacement last Sunday, and after having a full week of preparation, he's first match will be a tough encounter against seventh- placed Swindon Town.

Town will have two massive home games to start Etherington's tenure, and he told Sussex World he sees this as a real positive.

Etherington said: “It's a real positive to have the first two games as home games.

"Hopefully the fans can see what we’re all about in the way we want to play and what the players are all about which I’m sure they will do.”

Etherington has been learning his trade in management under the stewardship of Grant McCann at Peterborough, he know has the chance as the man in charge and to try and get his Crawley side away from the drop zone.

It won't be an easy start to life as the main man, Swindon Town have one of the bigger budgets in League Two, and The former Stoke City player in under no illusion how tough it will be for his side.

He said: “We’re under no illusion it’s going to be a very tough game.

“They want to pass the ball; they have rotation in their team, and they’ve got some very good players for League Two level. But we’ll have a game plan to stop and affect them. I’m really looking forward to seeing the players in a live match situation.”

The Verdict

There is no denying that any man coming into this Crawley side will have a massive job on their hands. The Reds sit 19th in League Two, just four points with safety. Although Etherington has no managerial experience, learning his trade at Peterborough will not have harmed him at all. A well run club with promotion ambitions.

After having a full week to prepare his side, Etherington has a good run of games in the month of December to implement his style and build confidence in his side that they can play at this level and starting picking up the valuable points they need.