Crewe Alexandra’s deserved 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Lincoln City last night took us off the bottom of League One and David Artell says it would serve as a psychological boost to his players to see their hard work being rewarded.

Two penalties from forward Mikael Mandron gave us three important points in our quest to remain in the division and although some clubs in-and-around us do have games in hand, the gap to get out of the current drop zone now stands at four points.

The Alex boss told the club’s official website: “Kenny (Lunt) has told me we are off the bottom and the gap is now four points, which is great.

“It is great in the sense of the players. They can see their performances improving and with that comes better results. They can see the rewards for their efforts and one of those will be getting off the bottom of the table and looking to the next team above us.

“We know we have to keep on working at it and keep on improving. We have won two in four, and if we do that from now until the end of the season then we will be more than fine, we will be in mid-table. Of course that is a tough ask but we are not half way through yet and there are a lot of points still to play for.

“The aim hasn’t changed, it is to win every game we can, regardless of the opposition or what competition it is in. I think we are on the right track now and four points is not insurmountable but there is plenty of work still to be done.”