Boss says his squad have made a promising start to life in League One but there is room for improvement

David Artell believes that if he was giving his Crewe Alexandra squad a mark on a school report, he would give them a B grade.

The Alex have made a promising start to life in League One with performances mostly high in quality, but on the other hand we have slipped to a succession of 1-0 defeats. The latest of those came away at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday evening.

The Alex boss has continuously spoken of room for improvement and he is striving for us to become more ruthless in both boxes.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup tie away at Cheltenham, the Alex boss said: “I think we have done alright so far. There is certainly room for improvement, especially in both boxes and no-one is settling for just okay.

“We have to become more ruthless and clinical in both boxes. A clean-sheet always gives you a platform when you are on top in games and if we can take more of our chances then we will be fine.

He added: “It is a work in progress but it is a division higher and if I was giving them a school report, it would be a B. I am like any other manger or teacher, I want A star pupils. They won’t be getting the wrath of me but they know there is more to come. I don’t need to tell them that we should have more points than we have.”