Crewe Alexandra manager, David Artell, says his side got exactly what they deserved against Oldham Athletic on Saturday and he has insisted on a more competitive display away at Exeter this weekend.

The Alex failed to record their third home win on the bounce with an inept performance against the impressive Latics at the weekend and Artell is hoping that his side respond by collecting only our second away win of the campaign at St James’ Park this Saturday.

Artell told the club’s official website: “We went through thing on the video with the players and then we went out and practiced it. The players were terrific, it was an open forum and they gave their point of view and explained their thinking in different situations. It was good and then they went out and trained really well.

“The trick is then to take that into the game. They have shown they can do this season but Saturday’s performance was nowhere near the standard. They know that.

“I am honest with them, win, lose or draw. Sometimes you watch it back and think we were as good as we looked on the day, sometimes not. Sometimes you watch it back, like the Cambridge game and think we were not as bad as we thought on the night.

“Oldham doesn’t fall into that category, we were bad as we looked and we got gradually worse.

“We work on things and it is all there to help them become better players and better decision makers. They are not there to be shot down when we got through things but they have to improve and understand the things they do have an effect.

He added: “I was disappointed with what I call contested balls and being competitive. We didn’t lay a glove on them at times and we have to be more competitive against a team like Oldham that we know is going to be competitive and physical.”