David Artell says that if there is one lesson to take from Monday’s impressive win at Swindon Town is that his team need to keep the ball when under more pressure. Crewe Alexandra produced one of their best 45 minutes of the season to lead 2-0 at the County Ground at the break and it could have been an even greater margin but for some smart saves from Luke McCormick.

The Alex boss told the club’s official website: “There was no getting carried away with the result or performance at Swindon. We came in and said well done because it was a terrific win under difficult circumstances but we are always striving for improvement.

“We didn’t keep the ball as well as we should have done in the second half. They changed after about half an hour because they couldn’t cope with the movement of our midfield players and we knew Richie(Wellens) would demand more in the second half.

“They pressed us better and we didn’t retain the ball as well as we did in the first half. It was encouraging though that we still wanted the ball, to get on the ball. That didn’t happen at Port Vale so that was an improvement there.

“If we had kept the ball as well as we did in the first half then you get to 60, 70 minutes and the press drops because one they are tiring and two they are getting no joy from doing it.

“The penalty gave them a sniff in the game but it wasn’t a penalty but I thought the players handled the final 15 minutes really well.”