SWINDON Town suffered a nightmare afternoon on Saturday as they lost 2-0 to Crawley Town in League Two and saw midfielder Saidou Khan taken to hospital with a serious head injury.

A forgettable first 45 at the People’s Pension Stadium made way for a far more entertaining second in which Swindon dominated the ball but failed to find the net for the third time in four games.

But goals from Nick Tsaroulla and Jack Powell helped gain Matt Etherington’s first win as manager of the Red Devils and push Swindon down to ninth.

The Robins’ luckless day was compounded when Khan was involved in a serious collision late on. He was later discharged and was said to be "doing well" by Swindon.

Scott Lindsey made two changes to the side which lost 1-0 at home to Crewe Alexandra a fortnight ago. Cian Harries missed out on the squad through injury while Ronan Darcy dropped to the bench.

Louis Reed was handed a first start in two months and Tom Clayton returned from an injury he sustained against Mansfield Town. There was no Dion Conroy in the Red Devils’ squad due to injury.

An early knee problem for Crawley’s Teddy Jenks saw him replaced by James Tilley in the hosts’ midfield, and it was the substitute who almost opened the scoring in the ninth minute once Ben Gladwin had lost the ball in midfield. It was worked back to substitute Tilley in the middle of the box seconds later, but his shot was blocked bravely by Clayton.

Swindon dominated the ball early on but had to wait until the 15th minute for their first real chance of the afternoon. The Robins worked it cleanly through the thirds, and Jacob Wakeling saw a goal-bound shot blocked away brilliantly by Joel Lynch, preventing Ellery Balcombe from being called into action.

Former Newport County striker Dom Telford flicked an effort goalwards midway through the half, and up the other end Ellis Iandolo sliced horribly wide after a surging run down the left by Frazer Blake-Tracy.

In the 21st minute, the Robins were handed a lifeline after Crawley saw a goal ruled out for offside. Balagizi headed a corner down towards goal and Joel Lynch poked home inside the six-yard box, only to be denied his moment by the linesman’s raised flag.

The half-time introduction of Darcy for Gladwin helped Swindon turn up the intensity, but still only half-chances were created by Lindsey’s men – the best of which saw Reed’s near-post free-kick scrambled out at the near post by Balcombe.

On the hour mark, Crawley’s left-back, Tsaroulla, cut in and lashed a powerful shot straight down Brynn’s throat. Lindsey then brought on Tomi Adeloye and Tyrese Shade as Swindon hunted for a winner.

As time ticked by, the Robins wasted a glorious chance on the counter-attack. Reed fired a pass down the right for Wakeling, and the striker held it up before returning the ball to Reed on the edge of the box. Unfortunately for Swindon, a horrible bobble forced the midfielder to clear into the car park behind the Swindon fans.

The host of wasted chances ultimately came back to haunt Swindon with 11 minutes of normal time remaining. A free-kick was half-cleared but worked out to Tsaroulla on the edge of the box. The Red Devils’ left-back lashed a powerful half-volley towards a cluster of bodies, and the ball clipped one of them before squirming past an off-balance Brynn and his outstretched left hand.

Moments later, Swindon’s afternoon went from bad to worse as Crawley doubled their lead. A loose ball from Reed back towards Brynn should have been dealt with by a defender, and the goalkeeper’s weak clearance fell straight to Powell near the edge of the centre-circle. The Crawley midfielder showed brilliant technique to first-time the ball into the net on the full and seal the result.

With seconds of normal time remaining, Saidou Khan sustained a serious head injury and – after around 12 minutes of on-field treatment – was carried off accompanied by light applause before the referee blew the final whistle.

CTFC starting XI: Balcome, Francomb, Lynch, Powell, Nadesan, Francillette, Telford, Balagizi, Tsaroulla, Jenks, Hessenthaler.

CTFC substitutes: Robson, Craig, Tilley, Oteh, Fellows, Ogungbo.

STFC starting XI: Brynn, Clayton, Iandolo, Reed, Hutton, Gladwin ©, Jephcott, Blake-Tracy, Wakeling, Khan, Brennan.

STFC substitutes: Copland, Baudry, Adeloye, Shade, Roberts, Darcy, Lavinier.

Referee: Martin Woods

Attendance: 3,230 (920)