Crawley will come up against a reborn Bournemouth side on Saturday, former Cherry Shaun Cooper has warned.
The Reds were comfortable 3-1 winners when Bournemouth visited Broadfield Stadium in early October, but since then former boss Eddie Howe has returned to mastermind a 14-game unbeaten run. Howe was in charge at Dean Court for more than 100 matches before he left for Burnley last January.
And Cooper is a fan of Howe’s style, having played under him for two seasons.
He said: “Eddie gets the best out of people and he is proving that. His tactical awareness, his motivation and the standards he sets. He is a very talented manager.
“Bournemouth are flying at the moment and it will be nice to get a win there. Bringing Eddie back was the best thing the chairman could have done. The talent in the squad was being wasted, it was sad to see but he has it all in order.”
And with the Cherries, boosted by the backing of wealthy owners, widely tipped for automatic promotion, Cooper warned the Reds to expect a much tougher test than they faced in October.
He added: “They had a few of their best players missing and I know a few of the lads were not happy with a few things.”