David Artell has told the club’s official website that recent 1-0 defeats to Ipswich Town and Gillingham have been ‘painful to take’ but the Alex boss says that there is no pressure coming from him and transmitting to the players.

The Alex have failed to convert a number of good opportunities in a number of games this season, but Artell believes that it will only be a matter of time before we start scoring again.

Artell told the club’s website: “The defeats to Ipswich and Gillingham have been painful to take. There is no hiding that fact.

“Saying that we lost 1-0 to Sunderland and we deserved to lose by more and that is an honest assessment. We probably got away with one there because they were far better than us on the night and we didn’t play to our capabilities.

“We have to take things in perspective. We have played Ipswich, who are expected to be up there and Gillingham, who will probably finish mid-table and played them off the pitch. There are a lot of positives but we have lost two games of football.

“It has been a dose of realism coupled with lots of positives. I’ve told the players that if we play like that every week then we will win a lot of games. I am not worried. I am not overly worried about not scoring a goal.

He added: “I am sure it will turn around fairly quickly and the players will get back to scoring goals again, which they have done consistently over the last two years.”