Interim boss Lee Bell heaped praise on his players after a morale-boosting victory over Colchester United.

Dan Agyei scored the only goal of the game to give Crewe Alexandra their first League Two victory in eight attempts.

It wasn’t pretty at times, but Bell was delighted with the resolve and commitment of his men.

He said: “We need to win some football matches. That’s always the most important thing, no matter what has gone before, and if you’re not going to do it in the way we’ve set out to do it – find a way. And they found a way.  

“It was a nervous performance in the first half and we played too far away from their goal.

"We spoke to them at half time and made some adjustments, and got somewhere near without, again, causing too much of a problem for them. 

“Arthur (Okonkwo) has kept us in the game with two brilliant saves. But this group of players stick in there, work their socks off, and I’m absolutely delighted to win. The subs had an impact when they came on, and that helped.”

The victory at the expense of rock-bottom Colchester made it three unbeaten in all competitions for Crewe.

Bell added: “This football club has a bunch of players and staff that everyone should be really proud of.

"This is an exceptional group to work with, everybody wants to be at this club. And it shows when performances aren’t going our way – they dig in and work for each other.”