Manager pleased with centre-halves reaction after we lost Ray through injury.

Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell praised the performance of his centre-halves Ben Nugent and young Perry Ng after the club captain George Ray was forced off against Crawley Town with a groin injury. Ray was substituted after just 20 minutes of our 3-0 win over the Red Devils with Ng slipping in alongside the more experienced Nugent.

The back four worked hard to protecting Ben Garratt in the Crewe goal and they deserved their clean-sheet on the night, although an injury time effort from Rhys Murphy clipped the crossbar.

Artell told the club’s official web-site: “I thought that Ben and Perry were terrific. We lost George (Ray) fairly early and he is our captain as well but I thought the two of them rose to the challenge and accepted the responsibility.

“We were terrific from an attacking point of view but I also thought we were terrific in our defending. To a man they worked their socks off.

“I had a chat with Ben before the game about him remaining focussed. He has to forget about a bad decision going against him or he makes a mistake. That has gone, in the past and he has to focus on the next pass, winning the next header. I thought Nuge was terrific for us on the night.

 “The full-backs cut out the crosses and I thought it was a complete performance from us.”