Boss says first goal was vital last night. Long hits the underside of the crossbar before Oxford find a scruffy winner.

David Artell accepts that Crewe Alexandra will have to start scoring goals and quickly if we are to have any chance of escaping the drop into League Two. A 1-0 defeat to Oxford United last night means Crewe have lost seven games on the bounce and during that poor sequence of results have scored two goals in 4-1 defeats to Plymouth and Accrington.

The run has seen the Railwaymen fall 10 points off the safety net at the bottom of League One and although performances have improved against Wigan and Oxford, Crewe need to be more clinical in front of goal.

Artell told the club’s official website: “We limited the team that has scored the most goals in the league to one goal. They had some chances in the game but didn’t take them and Dave Richards didn’t have too many saves to make.

“In the end, they have scored a scruffy goal to win the game and I am sure Karl (Robinson) would say the same thing. They had to work hard for the win and I didn’t think the players deserve to lose it. What we gave was a really committed performance but we just lacked the quality or bit of luck to have scored the goal.

“We were inches away with Chris Long’s effort and Rekeem (Harper) hit a good opportunity over the crossbar. Daniel (Agyei) also forced the keeper into a save in the first half and we dragged another wide.

“We had a few opportunities and we cannot rely on luck and have to be better. We are getting there slowly and I feel the performances have been better but we do need to take our chances when they do come along, especially against the top sides.

“We have to start scoring goals and being more of a threat if we are to win the games we will need to. We all know that and if we had scored first last night then it could have been different but we didn’t and it wasn’t. They scored the first goal and it always makes a difference in the game.”