Boss says injuries, new faces coming in and Ng moving on cannot act as an excuse.

David Artell has told the club’s official website that it has been a transitional month with new signings, injuries and Captain Perry Ng joining Championship side Cardiff City.

The Alex boss says that is part and parcel of football, but he admits that changing the starting XI may have affected the fluidity of recent performances.

Crewe’s impressive 10 game unbeaten run came to an end against Gillingham on Tuesday evening and Artell says the challenge is now to bounce back as quickly as possible.

The Alex boss told the club’s official website: “The team has changed recently due to different factors. We have had injuries, we have signed three new players and Perry moved on.

“It happens. It is not what I would call dramatic but have we been as fluid in our performances lately? Probably not.

“Could it be a factor? Yes, probably but you have to get on with it. That is what we do here. We had Billy Jones come in at right-back and played the two younger ones in the full-back positions on Tuesday evening.

“That can happen and like I’ve always said, we will need all of them at some point so they have to be prepared and ready for that challenge.”