By Pete Oliver

Evans is delighted with the progress being made at Crawley

Crawley Town manager Steve Evans insists that the Red Devils are more like little angels these days as the Blue Square Premier club continues to re-structure on and off the pitch.

Crawley have been dogged by controversy and negative publicity in recent seasons.

Financial problems, ownership wrangles, two spells in administration, disgruntled creditors and three separate points' penalties have done little to enhance Crawley's image.

Evans has also had his detractors through a colourful management career which has brought him censure from both the courts and the football authorities.

But on the pitch the Scot knows his business, having taken Boston United up the non-league ladder to the Football League and an 11th-placed finish in 2006.

Since taking charge at Crawley in the summer Evans has had to overcome a six-point deduction handed down by the Blue Square Premier for past financial irregularities.

And with a squad costing a fraction of previous Crawley teams, he claims his players should not be overlooked for their efforts so far this season.

Evans told BBC Sport: "We are not cribbing about the six points. But if we had not had that taken away we would have been four points off the play-offs. I think the players deserve a bit of credit.

I have no doubt we are ahead of schedule Steve Evans

"We are spending a third of most of the bigger teams, and probably a fifth of the big boys, and we have got together a young, exciting, hungry squad which deserves all the recognition in the world.

"Because of the six points we look like a team fighting in mid-table and they don't get the credit they deserve."

Evans has retained just three of last season's squad and says he has slashed the wage bill in a bid to get the club on an even footing and foster a new culture at the Broadfield Stadium.

"The contracts made no sense at all. We had players on �50,000, �60,000, �70,000 a year and the first job I had to do was manage that situation," Evans said.

"I managed to get four or five of them out of the way and I am not discrediting them as individuals. They didn't say they needed 'X' amount. Someone offered them a contract.

"But we have learned from that and we are on a really stable footing. There are no big earners now. Those days have gone.

We are still some way short of Torquay and Stevenage Borough Steve Evans

"Now we have got a very affordable product with a young, exciting, hungry team with a lot of seeds in place for the next couple of years."

Evans presented a number of options to the club when he was approached to take over in the summer with a three-year promotion plan considered the most viable.

"I have no doubt we are ahead of schedule," he said.

With a proposed takeover in the pipeline and some key personnel already in place on the club's operational front, Evans insists that the future is positive for the Sussex side.

And following a backlash against recent events from some supporters, the manager believes the fans are now ready to return.

He added: "The news that there could be new owners and everything is being done right is fantastic when you are in and around the club every day.

"There is a buzz about the town and people who have an affinity and an allegiance for Crawley Town will continue to increase if we continue to play the football we have been doing and get the results.

"People will turn up when you produce good football and a team that's winning.

We are spending a third of most of the bigger teams Steve Evans

"Since May, every month that has gone by has got better for us. We are getting more supporters, more sponsors and better players."

Evans points to the capture of former Woking, Gillingham and Nottingham Forest midfielder Kevin James as a case in point.

"He would not have signed for us in the summer when he looked at a team which stayed up by getting a point on the last day of the season."

It has not been a smooth road since Crawley's switch to full-time status in August 2005 - which came just 12 months after their promotion to non-league football's top flight - proved to be a false dawn.

But Evans believes the transformed Red Devils are finally getting there.