Crawley boss John Hollins has given the first hint that he would like to stay at the club beyond the end of the season.

Hollins' only brief when he arrived in November was to make sure the club were still playing Conference football in May.

A fifth successive win on the windswept Lancashire coast had almost guaranteed that with six games left - a remarkable turnaround when you consider that less than a month ago Hollins had a dressing room mutiny on his hands when the wage bill was halved and his side were firmly in the relegation zone.

Out of adversity Hollins has forged a tremendous work-ethic and team spirit. The personnel may not be that much different but Hollins has worked a minor miracle and deserves high praise.

Typically, he preferred to credit his players rather than blow his own trumpet but privately he must be thrilled with Reds' transformation.

Whether he stays may depend on what sort of guarantees he can get from the club's owners for next season for there is no doubt that, with a few additions, the squad which chronically underachieved for two-thirds of this campaign are capable of challenging for a play-off place.

He said: "I love football and enjoy what I'm doing here. We've got the results right with a decent blend of players. We're winning and suddenly we're thinking 'what the hell were we worried about?'.

"What's my future? I don't know. All I will say is that I will finish the job I have started and at the moment it isn't finished in terms of this season because I want us to win all our remaining games so we finish in the table where we should.

"I know what I can do and what I can achieve and it could be exciting times and I'm already planning for that so we'll see what develops."

In truth, there was more fun to be had at the nearby pleasure beach than Haig Avenue on Saturday as there was little free-flowing football.

Southport, marooned in the bottom two, did not look like grabbing a victory but it was not until they lost Liam Blakeman to two yellow cards in five second-half minutes that the visitors, who had been the better side for most of the first hour, put them out of their misery.

The key to Crawley's superb run has been the form of their defence. Phil Smith still causes one or two heart flutters in goal but the men in front of him are offering magnificent protection as nearly 500 minutes without conceding a goal suggests.

Leo Mendy was once again outstanding. Here is the archetypal Conference defender - rugged, fearless and a handful at set pieces.

Southport managed just three shots on target and their only effort of note in the second half came with a minute left when Gary Brabin fired wide.

With the wind behind them in the second half the hosts huffed and puffed but you never felt they would get back into it once Danny Clay had broken the deadlock.

No doubt boss Liam Watson reserved his biggest post-match rocket for Blakeman.

Having been booked for a foul on the hour, he got a second yellow for a theatrical tumble inside the Reds' box. Premiership referees may be reluctant to clamp down on divers but Tony Taylor reached for his red card immediately.

Reds upped the tempo and 14 minutes from time midfielder Clay reacted quickest when Danny Brown's corner dropped in the six-yard box to score the first goal of his loan spell from Exeter.

Clay, a slavish toiler when Crawley did not have the ball, epitomised their display. Youngster Scott Marshall did a sound job for an hour when Paul Armstrong went off with back spasms and up front Omari Coleman and Danny Ekoku gave as good as they got in in be a physical contest.

Coleman made the game safe in injury time, heading home from pointblank range from Tony Scully's inviting left-wing delivery.

Southport: Dickinson, Davis (Jackson 78), Roberts, Brabin, Lane, Pickford (Baker 64), Morley, Blakeman, Fitzgerald (McGinn 89), Daly, Robinson. Subs not used: Speare, Powell. Sent Off: Blakeman (67). Booked: Blakeman, Robinson.

Crawley: Smith, Judge, Giles, Mendy, Brown, Blackburn, Clay (Opinel 90), Armstrong (Marshall 32), Scully, Ekoku (Bostwick 83), Coleman. Subs not used: Ward, Woozley. Booked: Judge. Att: 1,308. Referee: Mr A. Taylor (Manchester).