'Big, big player' - Crawley Town boss praises youngster after he signs new contract with Reds

The 20-year-old signed a new two-year contract with the Reds last week after impressing in his limited opportunities this season under Lindsey, including his first start against Salford City and a great strike against Doncaster Rovers.

And Lindsey says the midfielder could play a bigger part this season – but it’s down to Khaleel to prove he can. He said: “I am really pleased to get Raf signed, he’s a big part of what we want to do going forward.. We want to try and bring the average age of the squad down. We feel that’s important to us because we are building something for the future.

“Raf can be a big, big player for us next season and all of a sudden you have a young man in his early 20s who is going to have some games under his belt at the football club.

"[On getting more minutes] I think that’s down to him,” Lindsey added. “I will go into pre-season with my eyes wide open. It’s down to him to pick himself. I always say to the players, it’s not me who picks the team, it’s down to you. You show me who should be playing.

“I believe he can play more minutes this season. Given a different environment last season he could have played more. We were in a precarious position. Had we been higher up in the table and safer a little bit earlier, he would have got more game time. You do tend to go with more proven p layers when you are in that kind of position.”

And Lindsey was full of praise for Khaleel’s attributes. “He can score goals, he’s athletically really good, he can handle a football. He doesn’t turn the ball over many times. He’s very efficient with his passing and for a boy who came into the football league last season, to be that efficient with the ball, you don’t see it very often at this level.

“He’s a good decision maker and we feel we have a real good prospect.”