David Artell says that Crewe Alexandra have to turn the corner and quickly after we suffered another away defeat at Whaddon Road. Crewe slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat thanks to Jamie Grimes’ 52nd winner to leave the Railwaymen closer to the relegation zone than progressing away from it.
Following the 1-0 defeat, Artell told crewealex.net: “I thought we got what we deserved and that is me being honest, open and frank.
“We couldn’t pass the ball until they scored and then we had a bit of a go. That’s not it at all. We cannot wait for them to score before we start playing properly and have a go. Before that we were lumping up there and hoping for the best. This club prides itself on passing the ball and we didn’t do that enough, especially in the first half.
“We were far better with the ball in the second half but we didn’t create enough. We did have a few chances but we couldn’t take them and we have to do a lot better. We have got to turn the corner and quickly and that means long hours on the training ground and working hard.”
The Crewe Alexandra boss was understandably annoyed that we were not awarded a first half penalty after Tom Lowery beat Flinders to a loose ball. The referee told the irate Crewe boss that the only mistake he made was not booking the Crewe midfielder for a dive.
Artell told us: “We should have had a penalty. I think it was blatant but the referee has made a horrific decision. When they are not getting those type of decisions right then it does infuriate you. The officials missed a lot today and that is their job to make sure they don’t.
“The referee told me at half-time that he had made a mistake because he should have booked Tommy for diving. I couldn’t believe it. They do have a tough job but when they miss a decision like that and they say that then they get no sympathy from me. It was horrific but I don’t want to use that as the excuse.
“We didn’t create enough chances and take the ones we had, so I cannot blame the referee for that.
He added: “You cannot allow fear to grip you. You cannot be fearful of the league table. You have to stand up and embrace the challenge. I have never shied away from a challenge in my life before and it is up to me, Kenny, Fred and the staff to lead from the front. We won’t be ducking any challenge.”