David Artell says the perfect tonic to get over Saturday’s poor performance and result at Cambridge United will be to surprise promotion hunting Rotherham United this weekend. The Alex lost 1-0 at the Abbey Stadium on Saturday and the Alex boss was left incensed with his side’s unwillingness to get on the ball and pass it – but he says that the attention has had to quickly change to prepare for the arrival of third placed Rotherham at the weekend.

Artell told the club’s official website: “We didn’t play anything like our way at Cambridge and we only played that one way. We didn’t mix it up and it was all a bit samey. We became too predictable in the end and we have got to play a lot better than we did.

“The performances have been decent, if you take Burton and Cambridge out of the equation and we cannot afford to have too many more like those.

“There was nothing in the game or between the two sides on Saturday and that made it even more frustrating. We have conceded from 25 yards, taking a deflection, and that has come about on a counter attack from our own corner. It was just a disappointing afternoon all round.

“We try to be as fair as we can with them and try and let them work it out. I am not a believer of hauling a player off after 20, 25 minutes and I don’t think that’s fair but I know some managers do. I think if you can them to half time and explain what you need them to do and they still do it, then you have to take action.

The boss added: “Players are human beings like everyone else. They don’t want to make mistakes or not play as well as they can - but on the other side, we need to win games of football as well, so it is up to us to make sure they get that message across.”