Forest Green boss Rob Edwards insisted there would be “no panic” after Rovers suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season with a 2-1 loss at Crawley.

Hot on the heels of their first league defeat in 20 league games at home to Walsall last weekend, Rovers’ undefeated away record fell with first-half goals from substitute Ashley Nadesan and Jordan Tunnicliffe giving Crawley only their second victory in the last 10 home matches.

Rovers, who pulled a late goal back through Dominic Bernard, remain 10 points clear at the top of League Two and Edwards stressed that his players must focus on the “fantastic position” they are in and “keep believing”.

He said: “We need to re-set and not panic; we are still in a very good position.

“It was the end of a really good run of results the week before and now our away run has ended, but football always gives you a good opportunity to bounce back with the number of games coming up.”

Edwards was critical of the manner in which his side conceded their goals and admitted: “We didn’t really recover – it knocked the stuffing out of us a bit.

“We have got to do better as a group but our lads have put themselves in a fantastic position and must keep believing. All must stay strong and come out fighting.”

Bernard’s late goal denied Crawley a first home clean sheet in six months but it did little to take the gloss off the performance, and head coach John Yems said: “We deserved it.

“It was heart-stopping in the last 20 minutes but we kept going.

“The harder you work, the luckier you become and it sums up what we are all about.”

Yems had special praise for former Fleetwood and Carlisle striker Nadesan, who put the Reds ahead nine minutes after replacing the injured Aramide Oteh.

“That’s what he can do and it was a great response,” he said. “Everybody wanted to win today.”

Yems was particularly pleased with the outcome having appealed for all fans to stick together after being “bitterly disappointed” with the reaction of some supporters following the previous defeat by Hartlepool.

He added: “Last time we were all doughnuts but now there is some cream in the doughnuts. There is still a lot of work to do.”