Boss says missed chances at cruical times saw game slip away

Crewe Alexandra boss Steve Davis says his side can learn from Coventry City’s clinical finishing. The Sky Blues certainly took full advantage of our defensive mistakes at the weekend to run out 5-0 winners with the prolific Adam Armstrong helping himself to a first half hat-trick and Jacob Murphy also scoring twice.

Crewe had their moments in attack too but couldn’t convert a host of chances. Captain David Fox hit the post and Coventry had to rely on the form of goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook to deny James Jones, Ryan Lowe and Marcus Haber.

Steve described those missed chances as pivotal to the way the game unfolded at the Alexandra Stadium.

The Alex boss told crewealex.net: “We have analysed the game with the players and they know that their individual errors were severely punished.

“Coventry were very clinical in their finishing after we made those mistakes. It was like a mistake, pass, goal and we couldn’t afford to gift them opportunities like that.

“That was the major difference. We gifted them goals and got punished. We did it four times in the first half and it was all over. We did it only once in the second half and we got punished for that.

“If you analyse the game, we created some really good opening and had good chances ourselves. We didn’t capitalise on that and they did.

“We made a mistake for the first goal but had chances when Marcus (Haber) should have done better with a header and James Jones fired over the bar.

“Ryan (Lowe) had a shot saved by the goalkeeper in a one-on-one and Jonah went one-on-one in the second half as well.

“So it could have gone 1-1, 2-1 or 2-2 but it didn’t and that is where we have to be more clinical and stay in the game. We managed to do that away at Coventry and were unlucky not to get a point but we couldn’t manage to do that at the weekend.

“They were important times in the game and why we will praise Coventry for that clinical finishing we made the sort of mistakes we must try and avoid.”