Blown away at Gillingham, the Alex get that clean-sheet and win at in-form Shrewsbury.
Travis Johnson will continue to work as hard as he possibly can to one day fill the void left by the departure of Captain Perry Ng. The club captain moved on to Cardiff City during the January transfer window and with initial replacement, Billy Jones, trying to adjust to playing twice a week after becoming something of a bit-part player at Rotherham United, young Johnson has had to step up to the plate.
The 20-year-old full-back was not alone in having a tough night at Gillingham last week, but the Academy graduate responded fantastically well to help Crewe obtain a clean-sheet and all three points at Shrewsbury last night.
It was a real hard fought, defensively robust performance to protect Owen Dale’s 27th minute goal that stemmed from Johnson’s right wing cross and everyone played a major part in that.
Artell said following the 1-0 win over the Shrews: “When you lose your captain and someone as influential as Perry (Ng) then it leaves a hole.
“We have been working with Travis and Rio (Adebisi) on the other side for three years now to make sure they have a chance at least of replacing Pez and Pixie in the long-term.
“That is how this club works. Now is Trav as good as Pez was? Not yet but he could be. He has to keep working hard and strive to improve.
“He is on his journey and has played something like 10 games this season. That’s a good return so far and he has to keep learning and progressing and he is. There is still a long way to go and he knows that but he is a good lad and he will do everything he possibly can to make that happen for himself.
He added: “He wasn’t the only one to have a tough night at Gillingham, I thought they all did if I’m honest, but it would have been a great learning curve for him and against Shrewsbury he has provided the cross for the goal and did superbly at the back post to stop their lad having a similar tap in in the second half. That’s it, doing his job at both ends of the pitch.”