Arsenal loanee notches 1st senior assist

Arsenal loanee Louie Copley registered his first goal contribution in senior football on Saturday, providing an assist for Crawley Town away to Bristol Rovers.

Arsenal loan midfielder Louie Copley has had a disrupted spell with Crawley Town so far, suffering an injury shortly after signing for the club in January, before having to deal with a setback upon his return in February.

The injury ended up ruling him out for 10 games between his two spells on the sidelines, but he’s returned to the team under new Crawley boss Colin Kazim-Richards.

After a couple of wins in Kazim-Richards’ first two games, Crawley have slipped back into the kind of form that had them in the League Two relegation battle to begin with.

Copley played just 30 minutes of Monday’s 2-0 defeat to Grimsby Town, but he played the full 90 away to Bristol Rovers on Saturday as Crawley lost 3-1.

The one positive was that Copley was involved in Crawley’s only goal, setting up Louie Watson in the 80th minute to get his team back into the game at 2-1.

Crawley pushed for a late equaliser, but that ultimately left them open at the back to concede on the counter in the 96th minute. The highlights are available to watch here.

There remains plenty at stake for Crawley’s final three games of the season, as they sit four points clear of the relegation zone but having played a game more than 23rd-place Barrow. Should Barrow win that game in hand, Crawley would be dangerously close to the drop.

Next up is a clash between two Arsenal loanees, with Copley and Crawley hosting Ismeal Kabia and Shrewsbury Town.

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