Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell says he ‘isn’t dressing up anything’ when he explains that he doesn’t think his team are too far off picking up points in League One.

Crewe have lost their opening two fixtures to two sides that were in the Championship last season and despite conjuring up a number of good chances haven’t yet registered a goal, but Artell says that we continue to head in the right direction.

Artell told crewealex.net: “When we talk about the game or go through the video, we don’t lie to them. We are very open and honest and I’ve told them that there isn’t a lot wrong.

“We are not dressing it up because we have lost two games. We are not world beaters but we are not relegation fodder either. We have improved with each performance and we are not too far off.

“We have deserved more than we have got because the performances have been good. We will continue to improve and remain confident that the goals and points will come.

“It is a results based industry and we have been unfortunate not to have got something for our efforts in the two games so far.

He added: “We are not worried. We have narrowly lost to two clubs that were in the Championship last season. If we had been beaten 5-0 and 5-0 by a team that had been in League One for a while then that is different but we have very much been in the games and created enough chances to have got something.”