Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell admits that last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Oldham Athletic was just as bad as the 6-0 defeat at Colchester United when it came down to performance. The Alex boss rightly stated that it was our worst home display of the season and now with two away games at promotion hopefuls, Exeter City and Forest Green Rovers, Artell will be looking for a vast improvement in performance.

Ahead of today’s trip down to Exeter, the boss said: “Both the result and performance against Oldham last weekend was not good enough.

“Last week was on a par with Colchester when it comes to performance. It was just as bad and we have to make sure we do not slip to those types of levels again.

“The players have trained really well but they did last week if I am honest. Maybe the conditions got to a few of them because that was the first time this season that they had to adapt to something like that but that cannot serve as any excuse.

“They have to get on with it and play to their best of their ability. They know that last weekend was not acceptable in terms of performance and we will all be looking to put that right at Exeter.”