Mickey Demetriou values Crewe Alexandra’s second clean sheet higher than his fifth goal of the season.

The central defender powered a first-half header home to set The Railwaymen on track to a 2-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers at Mornflake Stadium on Saturday.

His goal again underlined the threat he provides from set-plays, and edged him closer to his best ever haul of seven in a single campaign.

But Demetriou says he was especially pleased with the shutout which set the foundation for the success.

He said: “It is a big three points and most importantly we got a clean sheet which is the second we’ve had in the league this season.

“We know if we keep clean sheets we are going to win more games than not, so it is important to build on that.

“We are a good side when we play to our strengths and we have got a good squad.

“We are a much better team when we are on the front foot. We play and dominate more games that way, but if we sit back we invite teams to come onto us and it becomes harder.”

Demetriou felt Crewe could have won by a clearer margin, but admitted playing against 10 men in the second half complicated things.

He added: “It is massive the red card – we saw that at Wrexham. I think it changed the game massively, and changed the way we attacked them.

“We had to go round them and couldn’t force things against them. When you go against a team that has gone down to 10 men it is harder in some ways.

“They shut up shop and sat in their banks of four so we took more time to keep the ball and be confident with it.

“It worked, we still created chances unlike against Wrexham. It could have been three or four.”