David Artell says he gave his Crewe Alexandra a deserved pat on the back after they ‘found a way to win’ against Barnet on Saturday.

The Alex boss was right to admit that the performance didn’t match the standard set in the club’s opening games of the season against Mansfield Town, Newport County and Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup, but he was delighted that we attained the first three points of the season with a hard fought 1-0 win. Chris Porter scored his fourth goal of the season to seal the win 15 minutes from time.

The Crewe boss told us: “I’ve watched the game back with the coaching staff and we did a bit better than I thought at the time. I also know that we can play a lot better and we have done so already this season. I think the three points on Saturday was reward for our performances in the other two league games.

“We haven’t got the points reward for those performances, so it was nice to get that first win even though we didn’t play as well as we can. I think that is a terrific trait to have, to win those tight games when you haven’t played well.

“If we would have lost 1-0 then we would have been thoroughly disappointed afterwards. We would be looking at a disappointing start to the season. I was pleased that we found a way to win the game. They deserved a pat on the back for that.

“There will be games like that this season and if we can come through them and win 1-0 or 2-0 then it would give us a great chance.”