Boss says his side have to start defending set pieces better as a team

In the wake of conceding six goals in the opening two fixtures of the season, Steve Davis has told the club’s official web-site that his Crewe Alexandra side have to start defending set-pieces as a team.

The Alex boss was left frustrated again after conceding three goals at Gigg Lane last night and even a late surge couldn’t prevent the club exiting the Capital One Cup at the first round stage.

Davis told crewealex.net: “We didn’t deal with the second phase of play at all well and we need to be doing better with that as a team. It is about doing those simple things well. We have to be organised and anticipate situations better.

“If you switch off from your job then you are likely to be punished. We didn’t deal with the second ball from the throw-in, gave a penalty away and then didn’t mark properly at a corner. That has cost us.

“It is easy to blame the defenders but we are not defending the second ball well enough as a team. We have to make sure we are alert to situations when the ball comes out to the edge of our box. Everyone is accountable and we know what we have to do to make sure that those mistakes are eradicated.”