Crawley have agreed to extend the loans of Crystal Palace duo Hiram Boateng and Sullay Kaikai for a further month.

The youngsters were due to return to Selhurst Park after tomorrow’s trip to Gillingham but Reds boss John Gregory has persuaded Palace manager Tony Pulis to let them stay at the Checkatrade.com Stadium until April 8.

It means the 18-year-olds will be available for a further eight games as Crawley work their way through a fixture backlog created by a series of postponements during January and February.

Forward Kaikai came off the bench at Swindon and then made his full debut against Peterborough last weekend while midfielder Boateng started the 1-1 draw with Stevenage on Tuesday before being withdrawn at half-time.

Gregory said: “They have both got some minutes under their belts and definitely have got a big part to play for us over the next month at least so we are delighted they are going to be staying with us.

“They are smashing boys who have fitted in really well with the rest of the squad and we’ll look at the possibility of extending the loan further when it comes to an end next month.”