Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell says it is important that his side lift standards in the wake of Saturday’s disappointing 3-0 defeat to Burton Albion. The defeat to the in-form Brewers was the club’s first at home in 12 games and ended an unbeaten run stretching back to early November.

Artell was critical of his side’s performance and says that improvement is needed in the final 11 games of the season.

The Burton Albion has been a rare poor performance in what has been a solid return to League One football but Artell is still striving for greater consistency.

The boss told us: “It wasn’t so long okay that we had been on a long unbeaten run in League One and our home record has been good all season. They were the expected standards and we have to return to that.

“Saturday (against Burton) was nowhere near the standard the team have set and they know it wasn’t acceptable. We need to get back to the standards that saw us go on that unbeaten run and become hard to beat.

“We have to get back to keeping clean sheets and scoring goals and having this free week will give us a chance to address those problems.”