David Artell says that it just took some tactical pointers to work out how to finally break down a stubborn Salford City side on Saturday. Crewe struggled to conjure up too many chances in the first half and had trailed due to Adam Rooney’s close range tap in – but a powerful second half display from the Railwaymen saw us run out convincing 4-1 winners.

Artell said that the players took on board what was said at the half time interval and then had the ability and football knowhow to execute it. A superb team saw Chris Porter head us level just minutes into the second period and stunning goals from Tom Lowery and Harry Pickering put us firmly in the driving seat. Lowery ended the scoring with his well taken second goal after Charlie Kirk had been denied.

The Alex boss said: “We showed that we have some very good players here and we just needed to get across some tactical pointers at half time.

“The players went out and performed and exploited their weakness. We had worked on it all week and once we explained one or two things they worked it out. They deserve all the credit because they managed it. They carried it out.”