Alex boss gives us his post-match reaction from St. James' Park following heavy defeat

David added: "We knew we were in a dogfight, four games ago and we know we have to improve. We all have and it will be another week of hard work. We thought we were making some steps in the right direction but this shows that there is plenty of work to do be done from all of us."

On the red card for Kirk, David said: "The referee couldn't get his red card out quickly enough. Their lad made a deliberate handball in the first half to stop Alex going clean through and didn't even get a booking. I don't want to talk about the referee but he gave us two free-kicks in the first half and that was one of them.

"I thought Callum Cooke was fine. He is a mature footballer and didn't hide. I was pleased with him and he will be a player for us. He gets on the ball.

"Individual errors have cost us and we have got to stop making them. Its those misplaced headers, passes, and being better in both boxes. No-one wants to make mistakes or miss chances and the first goal was horrific defending. There were three contacts in the box and they were all from Exeter players. It wasn't good enough. It cannot happen.

"They have two choices. They can either listen and learn or they will have a relegation on their CV and a costly one at that. I know where we are at. I had it as a player at Shrewsbury and I know what it is about down at the bottom, maybe some of our players have to learn that. We are in a right dogfight and they have been told.

After the 4-0 defeat, Artell told the club's official web-site: "To say we are disappointed, is an understatement. The game changed on the George Cooper chance. I thought we were on top at 1-0 and had some glorious chances to get level. They then go up the other end and score a second and we were a bit naive in chasing the game at 2-0 and it looked worse than it was but we have got to dramatically improve. 4-0 is 4-0 and we can't carry on saying the same things.

A miserable afternoon was completed with a red card for youngster Kirk after he had replaced Danny Hollands.

Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell could not hide his disappointment after his side were well beaten in Devon. Crewe's lack of quality in both boxes was again apparent as the in-form Exeter City showed the importance of being clinical in front of goal. Crewe did have some chances to change the complexion of the contest but Christy Pym saved smartly to deny George Cooper twice after he raced into a one-on-one situation. The winger also hit the crossbar in the first half.