Evans plans to bide his time

Crawley Town manager Steve Evans insists he will bide his time in the transfer market as attempts to strengthen his squad.

The Red Devils have already snapped up eight new faces and Evans is eager to add two more signings to the side ahead of the new campaign.

However, the mentor is adamant he will not rush the buying process.

He told The Argus: "I would like to add a couple more but I'm not going to jump in at this stage. There are a lot of lads on trial at League clubs at the moment and we are waiting to see what happens. There is one I have been tracking for a while and he is having a trial at the moment.

"You always have a few who fall out and you can pick them up. It is the same at any club at any level.

"We have had to walk away from a couple of deals due to finances because I'm not prepared to sign players just for the sake of it.

"They have to fit two factors, whether they fit into our playing requirements and whether they fit into the wage bill."

And as kick-off against York City -the first game of the season on August 9 - approaches, Evans is confident his side is much stronger than last term.

He said: "We have 16 players in the door already and you can see from training there is a lot of quality there.

"In real terms we are a lot stronger than last year. You saw last season that when we had our strongest 11 we could beat the likes of Aldershot and Torquay but when we had two or three injuries, the players who came in were quite simply not good enough.

"This year we have strength in every department and a lot of options. (Assistant manager) Paul Raynor and I have discussed what our best team will be and we have both come up with different line-ups.

"Ideally you would want a squad of 24 quality players like Rushden or Torquay have but we can't afford to do that.

"So I would rather go down in numbers and keep the standard high than have a big squad when five or six are not good enough and never going to play."

Meanwhile, Evans knows his charges face a stern test against Championship side Crystal Palace when their pre-season friendlies begin on Monday.

"We are going to be severely tested and that is what I want. There is no point playing teams you are going to beat five or six nil, we want it to be competitive and we will get that against them," added the mentor.

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