David Artell says that he takes the majority of the responsibly for his Crewe Alexandra side conceding goals in the early games of the season. The Alex conceded two at home to both Lincoln City (in the League Cup) and Charlton Athletic, as well as going down to a late goal at Hull City.

Since then Crewe have restricted chances going to the opposition and have now kept three clean-sheets on the bounce at home against Newcastle United Under-21s in the EFL Trophy, MK Dons and then again against Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

Artell revealed to the club’s official website: “We conceded a few goals at the start of the season but I take the blame for that. It was my fault because we were a bit naïve in the way we set up and approached those early games.

“We got punished, usually on the counter-attack, so we made a few tweaks and have improved. We didn’t approach things correctly when we didn’t have the ball and that was down to me.

“The players have real football brains and it doesn’t matter if it is the senior players or the younger ones. They listen, take things on board and learn. If they don’t get it the first time, they work on it again and get it the second time.

“The clean-sheets are a result of that hard work and the players deserve the credit for that.”