The boss pointed to the sparkling performance at Crawley - that eventually ended in a 3-0 defeat - for not getting what you deserve, but was pleased with the Cambridge result as his team found a way to win.

 

Callum Ainley & Shaun Miller got the goals against the U's as Artell's troops also secured a first clean sheet since the 2-0 success over Grimsby in October.

 

Artell said: "The irony is it wasn’t a very good game and we weren’t very good – we were 10 times better on Saturday. 

 

"That’s the irony isn’t it? It’s a funny old game is football, I suppose. 

 

"The result’s the important thing as it always is and sometimes you take solace from a good performance even in defeat. But we needed a result again and the lads have delivered.

 

"It wasn’t a very good game. I thought the first half-an-hour was dreadful. I thought they came to stop us and you have to give them a fair bit of credit for that. 

 

"But I think that’s because of the performance on Saturday, they were that fearful of our patterns and what we try and do, that they were just more concerned about stopping us.

 

"I think they might have had one shot in the first half. I never felt that they were going to score a goal."

Artell was pleased with both goals, which were very different in nature.

 

He added: "Some teams score a lot of those scrappy goals, and they all count the same, so it is pleasing.

 

"We’ve put the lad under pressure in his own box, he’s made a mistake but then Callum’s there to stick it away, so you create your own luck. We don’t want to rely on luck, but you create your own luck.

 

"Will it make the highlights reel at the end of the season? No, but it set us up for a hard-earned, well-deserved victory.

 

"Shaun's was a great goal, he's got that in his locker. It was a terrific solo effort. We need to see it more often from him and others, because it settled the nerves with a few minutes to go."