David Artell says there were a number of positives to take from our opening day performance against one of the promotion favourites Plymouth Argyle. The Crewe Alexandra did not mask over the result but he believes that his side were not that far off making it a real contest against Ryan Lowe’s side.

In chasing that early goal, Crewe created good chances of our own on the day but found an inspired Alex Palmer in the Plymouth goal.

The Alex dominated much of the second half but couldn’t find that goal that could have altered the complexion of the contest.

David told the club’s official website: “There were some positives to take from the performance but like I said on Saturday we aren’t dressing it up because the result was a 3-0 loss.

“There were aspects of the performance that were good and others that were not and I include individual performances in that and the standards we try to aim for. Maybe we needed a bit of luck to get that goal and a way back into the game in that second half but there was also a lack of quality at times too.

“I think that anyone who came to the game could see a committed team who gave everything they had. We didn’t lie down and go down with a whimper and I was pleased with that. We gave it a real good go and didn’t deserve the 3-0 scoreline.

“There are things we can take from it and things we can learn from as well.”