Arsenal loanee praised as ‘best player on the pitch’ on debut | OneFootball

Crawley Town’s manager Scott Lindsey has praised Arsenal loanee Louie Copley as “the best player on the pitch” after the midfielder’s debut at the weekend.

Photo via Crawley Town on Instagram

Just over a week after his loan move to Crawley Town was confirmed, Arsenal loanee Louie Copley was straight into the starting lineup for the team against Notts County on Saturday for his debut.

Though Crawley ended up losing the match 2-1, playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men, Copley impressed on an individual level.

The midfielder created a couple of chances, made three tackles, three clearances, and one interception, as well as blocking a shot. More impressively for a player making his first senior appearance, Copley also won 10 of his 13 ground duels.

Photo via Crawley Town on Instagram

It’s not easy to step up into lower-league senior football and immediately impose yourself physically, but Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey liked what he saw.

“Louie Copley was outstanding today,” Lindsey said. “I thought he was the best player on the pitch by a mile. I thought he was brilliant.

“I thought he looked brave on the ball, he’s got those long legs to make tackles and I thought he was outstanding. I’m really pleased with him.”

Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images

Crawley sit just one point clear of the League Two relegation zone at the time of writing, so they’ll need to start picking up results quickly if they hope to avoid the drop.

But Lindsey clearly believes 19-year-old Arsenal loanee Copley is well positioned to help them with that task.