David Artell says that although football is a team sport, players should be concerned with their own individual careers too. The Alex boss, who played over 600 senior games in his own career and captained Crewe to promotion in 2012 before doing the same as manager, believes that the mindset of a professional footballer should be one of being self-employed.

Crewe face MK Dons this evening in desperate need of upsetting the odds to give ourselves any chance of remaining in League One. Crewe have now endured six straight defeats following last Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat by Fleetwood and Artell says that players are still playing for their own futures.

Artell told the club’s official website: “Losing becomes just as much as a habit as winning and we have to break that poor run of results as soon as we can.

“Football is a team sport but individuals have to look after their own careers as well. They are playing for their own means as well, whether that is a new contract, to get a move, stay in the team or get into the team for next year.

“Every game is an opportunity and the only ones who can influence their career is the individual. They have to use their motivation in the remaining games and harness that into their performance. The majority understand that there are always consequences when it comes to performance and what comes on the back of it.

“We do have a lot of young players and maybe they don‘t yet have that experience or are old enough to quite understand that, but they are becoming aware because of the season we have had.”