Assistant boss Paul Raynor praised Crawley's spirit as they grabbed an unlikely last minute equaliser.

Reds looked to be heading for their sixth defeat in seven games when they trailed to Andrew Sandell's 79th-minute goal but Jon-Paul Pittman earned them a point when he was quickest to react after Salisbury keeper Ryan Clarke failed to hold Glenn Wilson's deflected shot.

Raynor said: "There is real spirit in the dressing room and that has to be commended. Salisbury are not an easy side to play against but we kept fighting to the end and got our reward."

Crawley were boosted by the return of goalkeeper Ashley Bayes following suspension, with on-loan Danny Knowles dropping to the bench. That was one of two changes to the side which drew 2-2 with Exeter on Tuesday, the other saw Tyrone Thompson return for the injured Lee Blackburn in midfield.

Dominic Shimmin was on the bench despite having seven stitches in an eye wound and took the place of Magno Vieira, who had joined Cambridge United on loan for the rest of the season on Friday.

Salisbury handed a debut to Ashley Barnes after he arrived on loan from Plymouth. He took the place of Robbie Matthews in attack after he injured a knee in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at Ebbsfleet, a result which ended a run of 12 games unbeaten. Skipper Aaron Cook also returned to the heart of defence following injury while Scott Bartlett replaced Sandell in midfield.

Reds stuck with the same 3-5-2 formation which helped contribute to such an entertaining match on Tuesday but unfortunately it did not have the same effect this time.

The lack of goalmouth incident was highlighted by the fact that fans had to wait until the 36th minute for the first attempt of any note when Pittman looped a header harmlessly over the bar.

Crawley did slowly come into the game and finally forced Clarke into action five minutes before the break when he had to dive full length to push away a powerful 25-yard free kick from Dannie Bulman.

The visitors posed even less of a threat and had just two corners to show for all their attacking efforts in the first half.

Evans decided to change things at half time with Mustapha Carayol replacing Jamie Cook, who was clearly still troubled by a dead leg which forced him off against Exeter.

The visitors looked much sharper from the restart and managed their first attempt on goal within 40 seconds, Leon Feeney shooting wide after taking advantage of hesitant defending.

Salisbury brought on Sandell in place of Rob Sinclair and the move did the trick as he broke the deadlock. There seemed little danger when the ball fell to him 30 yards out but he unleashed a low drive which flew into the bottom corner.

Evans responded immediately by bringing on Thomas Pinault for Ollie Allen and pushing Kevin James into the attack. Salisbury also made a change with Matt Tubbs replacing Barnes.

Wilson pushed forward to make a three-man attack as Reds threw caution to the wind in the closing stages and the move should have brought an equaliser with four minutes to go. Wilson cleverly lobbed the ball over the visitors' defence but Bradley Thomas fluffed his shot from six yards.

Pittman showed Thomas how it should be done in the final minute when he fired home the loose ball after Clarke had failed to hold Wilson's deflected shot from 20 yards.