Alex Morris pulled no punches in his assessment of Crewe Alexandra’s 3-0 defeat at Barrow.

The manager said the hosts fully deserved their three points, and suggested his players did not cope with the basic demands of the game.

Morris said: “They out-ran us, out-fought us, and out-thought us. If you lose in all those departments in any game, the outcome will be what we’ve experienced here.

“They didn’t catch us by surprise, we knew what we were coming into, and the atmosphere and environment they create here.

“That was the focus throughout the week, but the players didn’t respond to that.

"They were horrific goals to give away, they were much more clinical in the box than we were, and in between the boxes it was Barrow’s game.

“It was Barrow’s game because they were on the front foot, they came out of duels with the ball nine times out of 10, and they showed far more determination and desire than us.”

He added: “If you are going to come away in this league, you have to stand up and be counted.

“We are working extremely hard to try to make sure the players are able to cope in these environments. In some games they have, but in others they certainly haven’t.

“We are a young team, and some of them struggle to respond to this sort of demanding situations.

“They’ll get better at doing it, but in the meantime that’s no good to the supporters, they don’t want to hear that, they want it now. We’ve got to develop it quicker.”