Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell says that he was a little harsh when describing Saturday’s draw at Morecambe as ‘one of our worst performances of the season’.

The Alex picked up a point thanks to Chris Porter’s injury time penalty and Artell was disappointed after we failed to record that second away win of the campaign.

On the visit to one of his former clubs, Artell says that he should have given his players more leeway after reviewing the match on DVD with his assistant manager Kenny Lunt.

Artell told the club’s official website: “I watched the game back with Kenny yesterday morning and we went through it. We didn’t play particularly well but we actually played better than we thought at the time on what was a really bad pitch. It didn’t help us and it is not an excuse.

“We got an away point and we have played a lot better in a lot of our away games and got nothing, so that is the real positive to take from it. We didn’t threaten enough but I should have given the players a bit more leeway on Saturday.

“Morecambe were on the front foot in the second half but it still took two cracking goals for them to score and get their noses in front.

“On reflection I think a draw was probably a fair result. I didn’t think that on Saturday but it is another point on the board. We have lost just one in four and we have to make sure we make it one in five against Newport at the weekend.”