David Artell says his players have earned an extra day off after collecting 9 points from 12.

David Artell says that his players have thoroughly earned their day off. The Alex boss has given his players the day off after a 2-0 win over Colchester United took them to 9 points out of a possible 12. Crewe are now on 45 points and 13 clear of the bottom two places.

Following the 2-0 win over Colchester, David told crewealex.net: “The players have earned the extra day off. They have been coming in on a Sunday when we have had a Tuesday game and we have had to deal with a fair share of travelling as well.

“They deserve it and I don’t mind given them a day off when they earn it. We had a blip in the second half against Newport, but if someone had said we would get 9 points from a possible 12 then we would have snatched their hand off.

“After the Newport game there was a lot of doom and gloom and rightly so, because it wasn’t acceptable but the players have responded superbly to win at Crawley and beat Colchester at home. I would have liked 12 out of 12 but sometimes you have put things in perspective and the players deserve enormous credit.

“They have worked their socks off and there were some tired legs out there on Saturday but they kept going and managed to score that second goal. I like my players to be tired because it means they have put a shift in. I want them tired at the end of the game.

“They will get their reward to rest and I’m not afraid to give them a day off because they have been terrific in the last few games.”