CRAWLEY Town manager Harry Kewell says he doesn’t want his side to be a long ball team like Newport County AFC.

Speaking after County’s 2-1 win at the Checkatrade.com Stadium on Tuesday night, the Australian said: “The way we played in the second half it wasn’t my team.

“We fell into the trap of they’re hoofing the ball so we’ll hoof the ball. It gets you nowhere.

“It was a boring game. It was like a game of tennis – bang, bang – and I was furious.

“I’ve got no problem with teams coming here and playing that way but I don’t want my teams doing that.

“I think they [County] constructed five or six passes and had that one chance [from open play].

“We can’t say they created great chances. They know what they are good at and hats off to them, they played the game well and we got sucked into it.

“It doesn’t matter how you win. Like Mourinho says, you can win pretty or win ugly but just win.”

Asked if the Exiles could maintain their challenge for the play-offs, the former Liverpool star paused for 14 seconds, smiling and stifling laughter.

He then said: “I take my hat off to Newport for what they’ve done. They know exactly how they need to play and what they need to do.

“It’s 14 goals they’ve scored now and eight of them are from set-pieces.

“If that’s how they work then fantastic. I wish them all the best.

“They came here, they did a job and they got the three points.”