Saunders backed to make signings

Dean Saunders is looking forward to tapping into his contacts and "winning games" following Crawley's 0-0 draw against Colchester.

The former Wales international, 50, is back in football on a temporary basis after John Gregory was forced to step down due to medical reasons. Gregory, 60, will have major heart surgery early in January and Saunders is relishing the opportunity of reviving Crawley's fortunes having been out of work since being sacked by Wolves in April 2013. Patched-up Crawley, without a win in 11 league and cup games, were fortunate to escape with a point against Colchester with the visitor denied by the woodwork on four occasions. Saunders said: "We need a bit of surgery but the board have assured me that they will back me and I need to add a few quality players. "I've got to use my contacts. I took Doncaster to the top of League One and I need to bring players in. "Crawley have not been on the slide for long, with a couple of additions and my enthusiam hopefully we'll win some games. "We've only five wins from 23 games and I've got to improve that. John Gregory rang me and asked me to help and I'll do my best." Colchester manager Tony Humes was quick to admit it was a case of two points dropped for his side, who have only won one of their last eight league games and are locked in the bottom four with Crawley. Humes said: "We did more than enough to win the game when you consider how much possession we had and how often we struck the woodwork. "But we must look at the positives. It's another clean sheet, a sound enough team performance, but we need to start winning games. "It's two points lost and I would've loved three. Crawley gave everything to Dean Saunders and they got the luck that we didn't." Humes felt his players were trying too hard in certain situations. He added: "I'm not going to criticise the lads, they showed good fitness and it was a good performance. "It should have been three points, but we move on. "Maybe the players are snatching at things, but I can't fault them really. "We've hit the woodwork four times so you can't say it is poor finishing."