David Artell believes that his team has shown in the opening three games of the season that we can be ‘more difficult to beat’. The Alex boss has been pleased with the resilience we have shown in our defending, conceding just two goals in our opening three games of the campaign.

The Alex boss says there is still room for improvement in our defending but he hopes that the encouraging signs are there to suggest that we won’t be on the receiving end of a Morecambe like hammering ourselves.

Artell told crewealex.net: “I think we have shown that we are hard to beat. I don’t think we look as though we are going to be on the receiving end of a hiding in a single game. Now I know that can be the kiss of the death and I hope it doesn’t bite me on the bum against the MK Dons or in the future.

“We have looked resolute and resilient in our defending. Fleetwood started both halves well on Tuesday night and Newport are renowned fast starters but we weathered those storms. We have shown that we can do it and not concede.

“We have to start quicker ourselves but when we have been under pressure we have coped fairly well and have defended reasonably well. I’ve said that the amount of goals we concede will ultimately determine where we are going to finish in the league.

“I think we have the firepower and creativity at the other end so the fewer goals we concede, the more successful we will become.

“We have set standards and it is up to us to make sure that we don’t often dip under that standard."