Boss says tie at Bolton will give players chance to stake their claim after three 1-0 defeats.

David Artell says that the FA Cup tie at Bolton Wanderers will present another chance for players to impress after Crewe suffered their third 1-0 defeat on the bounce to Gillingham last night. The Alex created enough chances to have been out of sight again by half-time but were once again ruing those missed opportunities as John Akinde sprung off the Gills bench to head the only goal of the game at Gresty Road.

The result left Artell incredibly frustrated and he was disappointed that we didn’t trouble Joe Lumley in the Gillingham goal enough after finding ourselves in good advanced positions.

Artell told the club’s official website: “Bolton in the FA Cup will be another opportunity for the players to stake their claim.

“I am not overly worried. The performances have been largely good. We were flat against Lincoln and didn’t perform to our capabilities at Sunderland but you also have to give them credit because they were much better than us on the night.

“Sunderland aside, I really don’t think anyone has overrun us and we have just fallen short in those games that we have lost by the one goal. We have been in the games and possibly have deserved more but it is about taking your chances and we haven’t done that enough.

“It is a results based business and that is what you are ultimately judged on. We have shown that we can more than compete but we have to turn that into goals and points.

“The FA Cup doesn’t have any points to play for but we want to go and win the game and get ourselves back to winning ways. We want to win every game and progress in competitions and the FA Cup first round is always special.”