David Artell says that his Crewe Alexandra have enough brownie points in the bag to compensate for one or two poorer performances, but he is demanding a better one against Ipswich Town this weekend.
The Alex were beaten 1-0 against Lincoln City on Tuesday and in truth the league leaders were actually a bit unfortunate not to win by more. Crewe needed Will Jaaskelainen in top form and the woodwork coming to our rescue on two occasions for us to stay in the game.
Although we had more of the ball in the final 20 minutes when Daniel Powell and Chris Porter were introduced we couldn’t create that one chance to perhaps force a draw.
In the build up to our trip to Portman Road, Dave Artell told the club’s official website: “We were flat on Tuesday night and that is a fair assumption. Coupled that we faced a Lincoln side that our top of their league and their manager (Michael Appleton) said afterwards that it is the best his side had played in the first 45 minutes, then it makes for a tough night.
“That gap that was there at kick-off just becomes bigger if you are not at it. It was a tough evening but we stayed in the game and in the last 20 minutes we had a go and could have nicked one but it would not have been deserved.
“We have played five of the top 10 so far, so it has been a tough run of fixtures but they are all going to be tough. We are doing okay, but make no mistake myself nor the players will be settling for okay. “