Crawley boss Billy Smith has praised the standard of refereeing in the Dr Martens League.

Smith believes he has never come across better officials than those he has experienced in his two spells with Crawley.

He said: "Referees are always under pressure to issue cards, but in this league they're a lot more lenient. They use their commonsense, talk to players and use their discretion.

"Nearly every foul in professional football and other leagues is punished by a yellow card nowadays. It's becoming rarer and rarer for teams to keep 11 men on the field.

"Graham Poll, Graham Barber and David Elleray all started officiating when I was managing in the Ryman League and they were always fussy then.

"Good referees, like Paul Durkin, used to run games in this league. This does seem to be a good breeding ground for them. What's the point of booking everyone for every single foul? There's no point at all.

"They say it's to control the game, but I think it just makes it worse. Footballers are adults and should be treated as such. If you treat them like children, then they'll behave like children."

Reds will be looking to bounce back after losing their 100 per cent record in a 1-0 defeat at Cambridge City on Bank Holiday Monday and Andy Taylor has recovered from a badly cut eye to lead the defence.

Taylor said: "It was frustrating to be out of the side, but thankfully I'm back and we can get back to winning ways. We've got off to a great start and all the boys believe we can mount a serious challenge for the title this year."

Smith is at full-strength apart from long-term absentee Ian Payne.