David Artell said he was delighted for his players and the travelling Alex contingent after his Crewe Alexandra side recorded a deserved 2-1 win at Cheltenham. The club’s front two, Chris Long and Chris Porter were both on target at the Jonny Rocks Stadium to seal a second away win of the campaign.

A 2-1 win ended a run of seven consecutive defeats for the Alex and afterwards, the Crewe boss told us: “I thought we deserved it for a start. I thought we deserved to win on Tuesday but we didn’t. I thought we played well at Wigan and gave it a right go. We had a major blip against Accrington but played well for a half against Plymouth.

“We have steadily improved over the last few games and I am delighted for the players because I think the recent performances have warranted more than what they have received. We thoroughly deserved to win the game today. We should have had a penalty when Longy was fouled, 100% but they kept going and got their reward.

“I am delighted for those that have travelled down today. It could have been quite easy to miss this one, go shopping or take the kids out for the day, but they didn’t. They still came down to Cheltenham to show their support again and I am delighted that we have won for them. It makes the journey back a lot easier and it has been a long time coming for them and us.

“They can see the effort, endeavour and how hard work the lads are working. They are giving it everything for the cause and they are trying. They don’t mean to lose and you can see the appreciation at the end.

He added: “If we keep going, playing like we did, I actually thought we played better football, more often against Oxford on Tuesday but tonight the two forwards have stuck the ball in the net and that is the difference.”