We improved and the blend of experience and youth was perfect.

David Artell has told crewealex.net that he and his staff were 'quietly confident from the beginning of the season' that his group of players were going to be contenders for promotion. The Alex boss felt that the players he bought into the club would have the desired impact and that with his talented youngsters another 12 months on in their development that the mixture of youth and experience would pay off inside the dressing room.

Everyone at Crewe Alexandra can now look forward to League One football again after the EFL confirmed yesterday that we would finish as runners-up to Swindon Town after the application of points per games. Swindon, with a game in hand, secure the League Two title.

Artell told the club’s official website: “We always felt that were good enough. We knew it because we had seen them at 13, 15 and at 16. We knew they were on the right track and it has taken longer than I thought.

“I would have liked to have done it last year but we just left our push a little bit late. I really thought that if we had reached the play-offs, then we would have done what I did here as a player and gone all the way. We fell a touch short.

“We were quietly confident that we could have a good season. We were pleased with the business we did, we felt we improved. I am not taking anything away from Jordan (Bowery) but Daniel Powell’s assists, performances and goals have improved us there.

“We had a nice blend of experienced and young players and felt that we ticked all the right boxes. We always felt that we had a good chance of promotion but it’s down to the players. All we do is knock them into shape, give them guidance and help them along the way.

The boss added: “They are a good group and I suppose we deserve some credit for forming the group and increasing the belief but the players have done it, they deserve all the credit.”