Neil Baker gives us his view from the Ricoh Arena

Neil Baker gives us his reaction after Crewe bounce back from an early Leon Clarke strike to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Mark Ellis and youngster Max Clayton.

After the 2-1 win at the Ricoh Arena, Baker told crewealex.net: “We knew it would be another tough game against Coventry. They are in form and their recent record is probably better than most.  It wasn’t a great game and I think there were a lot of tired legs and minds out there. It is the emotion of these occasions that can take it out of the players and I didn’t think we were at it for the first 20 minutes.

“We played with eight men for 20 minutes and carried a few until they scored. It seemed to rouse a few of them and it was important that we got level as quickly as we did. We had worked on Gregor providing corners like that from that side, so we were pleased with that. Mark Ellis took it really well.

“They probably had the better of the game. The stats will say that but we defended well and protected Steve Phillips’ goal pretty well. When we needed him to keep it out he did.

“What we do have is a real spirit, desire and determination. We may not play as well as we want to at times, but no-one can fault the effort or commitment of the players. They hung in there and have that belief.

“It is terrific to come here and win. It shows how far we have come that we can come to Coventry and leave with three points. We are delighted and we are delighted for Max. Everyone is pleased for him  and he deserved his opportunity because he has continued to work hard and play well for the Under-21s.

“He had a good work and deserved a chance. We also had AJ and Ryan Colclough on the bench today, but we went for Max and he has paid us back. He is still young and learning his trade but he desperately wants to do well and is always keen to improve and work hard.

“We have to be patient with him because of his age but we are really pleased for the lad today and hopefully he can build on that now.”