David Artell says that one of the main disappointing aspects of our 3-0 defeat at Exeter City last weekend was that we didn’t make the league leaders work hard for their victory.

The Alex boss was disappointed with the way we tentatively played in the first half and with the manner of the goals we conceded at St. James’ Park. The Alex boss doesn’t believe it was a 3-0 sort of game, but he admitted that we made things too easy for Paul Tisdale’s side on the day.

Artell explained to crewealex.net: “We didn’t deserve a nil for a start. I thought we did enough to have scored a goal and if we had scored early on then it could have been a different game. We were not clinical enough and now we will never know.

“Our defending was then abject and I thought we created our own problems on the day. That was the most disappointing thing for me because although I thought Exeter were the best side we have faced by a country mile, they didn’t have to work hard for their victory. We know we can be better than that.

“We cannot afford to have 8 or 9 players playing below the standard they have set. When the senior players are struggling with their own performances, it is difficult for them to help the younger ones. That was the story of the game on Saturday and Exeter, without having to work tremendously hard, won 3-0 and rode off in the sunset top of the league.

He added: “That is why I was so disappointed because we should have made things more difficult for them but we will move on and look to put it right against Carlisle."