Steve Davis wants his players to enjoy the challenge of getting the points we need

Steve Davis wants his Crewe Alexandra players to embrace the challenge of trying to secure the points we will need to safeguard our League One status. The Alex boss was disappointed that his side couldn’t sustain their attacking play in the second half after again taking an early lead against Walsall through Marcus Haber.

The Alex boss believes that an aspect of nervous tension affected performance.

Following the 1-1 draw with the Saddlers, Steve Davis told crewealex.net: “I was disappointed that we stopped playing on the front foot in the second half. We stopped playing through midfield, like we had been doing in the first half.

“I am sure some nervousness came into it and we stopped getting the ball off the goalkeeper. We began to rely on the longer ball and hoping Marcus would win it with a flick on. Sometimes that is the best tactic to use on that pitch, but we still want to play and play through the midfield.

“I think our energy level dropped and that nervousness of trying to hold onto the lead sapped some of them.

He added: “It is a tense situation but they need to try and enjoy the challenge and enjoy the need to win games.”