Steve Davis gives his post-match reaction from the Checkatrade Stadium

"It was a really spirited performance from the lads and with such a young group we had, it is an excellent point."

"Our goal was excellent. It was the one real moment of quality we showed in the first half. We showed real composure in the build up. Bails picked out George superbly and it was a great finish. We could have gone on and scored maybe one or two in the first half and maybe that would have made a major difference to the outcome of the game. We knew they would come out in the second half and be more direct. They have put Harrold on and hit him when they could but I still think we defended well against his threat. I thought the back five were excellent and I cannot fault the effort of all the players this afternoon.

"We defended really well and it isn't easy to put a back three together and have a young player there making his debut at right wing back as well. Only Duggy has been playing regularly, so you never know how they are going to adapt to the work we have done. They couldn't quite see it out and Crawley probably deserved the draw. The chance just fell to the wrong man from our point of view. McLeod looked the one striker who might do something for them.

"We had to bring the 18 we had, there was no one left and there were players making their full debuts for us out there today. we also had a few who hadn't played for a while such as Harry, who hasn't played for six months, Chris Atkinson hasn't played for a while. The same with John Guthrie. They worked really hard, were resolute and they can all be proud of their performances today. James Baillie was sound. He found it more difficult as the game went on but he can proud of his debut.

Following the 1-1 draw, Steve told the club's official web-site: "At times you have to show faith in the young players. Dario was always prepared to give them a chance and so am I. We had to go with them today because of all the injuries and suspensions we have had this week, so I am delighted with the result here today. It is always a tough place to go anyway so I am pleased with all of them.

A resurgent Crawley forced a deserved draw with an improved second half display with McLeod firing home a 67th minute equaliser after Crewe failed to clear the initial danger.

Steve Davis was proud of his young group of players at Crawley after they collected a well deserved point. The Alex boss was forced into a number of changes after losing a large chunk of his squad in the build up to the game, but he was delighted with the way his team reacted and adapted at the Broadfield Stadium. Crewe had a first half lead through George Cooper and could have had one or two more before the break.