Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell says he has been heartened by recent performances, but he has reiterated to his squad that there is still room for improvement in all areas.

The Alex boss believes it is obvious to see the improvement in performances with Crewe winning three successive home matches 2-0 before suffering a loss by the same scoreline to a strong Sheffield Wednesday side last time out.

The Railwaymen also gave a good account of ourselves away at Ipswich but were narrowly beaten 2-1 mainly due to a poor early goal and a wonder goal from midfielder Celina.

Artell says that the team are gelling more and that has been evident from the recent displays but he is seeking more points to show for that improvement.

He told the club’s official website: “There are a lot of areas to work on and we are working hard on them. The performances have improved and if they keep on improving or hit that level then the results should look after themselves.

“Saying that we played well at Ipswich, and the fans applauded us off at the end for our efforts, but we got no points. That is the name of the game and we need to start winning games and picking up points to make sure we don’t give ourselves a mountain to climb in the second half of the season.

“We played well against Sheffield Wednesday in patches and passed the ball well enough but we didn’t test their goalkeeper enough. We conceded two goals that were avoidable and it was those fine margins again.”