Boss pleased with the response of his players.
Crewe boss David Artell was pleased with the commitment of his players as they emerged from Cheltenham with a hard fought point this evening. The Railwaymen had to do it the hard way too, coming back from a goal down again and having to see out the final 20 minutes with ten men after Perry Ng was sent off for two bookable offences.
The Crewe boss says that the red card for our skipper was a game changer but he was delighted with the response of our players. It is Crewe’s first draw in 21 games and we still sit second behind Exeter City, who we host next week.
Speaking after the 1-1 draw at the Jonny Rocks Stadium, the gaffer told us: “In the end, it is a good point and sometimes you have to accept that a point away from home, especially when going down to ten men is a good result. I thought we deserved a point at the very least because we dominated large parts of the game and I thought a goal was coming for us when Perry was sent off.
“We didn’t create as many chances as I would have liked but we had 11, 12, 13, 14 really committed lads out there today. It was that never-say-die attitude from us and to come here against a side that were 3rd in the table and not lost at home was going to be tough. They are riding high, so are we and we deserved the point.
“We gave away a terrible goal from the corner, where we had four or five our lads that could be doing better there. That was a real negative but the response from us was terrific. We scored a really well worked goal, it was a terrific move and a good finish again from Chris and we deserved to go in level.
“I thought it was one of our best periods when Perry was sent off. I told them at the end, that it is three red cards already and that is unacceptable. That can kill us because we don’t want to have to see out games with ten men. It’s Perry this time, it has been Greeny and Olly before that and that cannot happen.
“Perry has been ill. He has thrown up quite a lot over the last 24 hours but we wanted to play and said he was fine. When you cross that white line, you need that clarity of mind but he will learn from it and we will help him and teach him.
The boss added: “It was a big game changer and I was delighted with the way the lads put in the hard yards to get us a result here. They ran their socks off and over the 90 plus minutes we deserved something for that.”