ARTELL TARGETING TRANSFER OF FORM AFTER TROPHY SUCCESS
DAVE Artell hopes Crewe Alex’s Papa John’s Trophy success can kickstart a push for League One survival.
The Alex wound up their group campaign with a 3-0 victory over Wolves Under-21s on Tuesday to ensure they finished top of their section.
Mikael Mandron scored twice and debutant Joe Robbins added the third as Crewe backed up previous wins against Shrewsbury and Wigan.
Their form in the Trophy has been in stark contrast to fortunes in the league, though.
Crewe find themselves bottom of the table after winning just one of their 16 matches.
However, boss Artell, right, says that beating Wolves can provide a much-needed confidence boost for the upcoming league challenges.
He told the club’s website: “It was important to win the game. We needed a win and we had chances to score more goals than we did, but the most important thing was that we won the game and we had some good performances.
“The belief was there and it was good to see. Now we hope that it gives us a lift and we can take that forward. There were a lot of positives to take from the performance and as a manager you want food for thought.
“As a forward, you want to score goals and Mikael has scored two goals tonight and you cannot ask more than that. Forwards want to be scoring goals and Mikael has scored two, so hopefully that will kick start some more from him.
“Joe has scored on his debut and that was a good finish as well, so that is something he will remember from his debut for the first team.
“We had far more control of the game, especially in the first half and if we had gone in five, six up, I don’t think that would have flattered us.
“In the second half when you are two, three goals up, you can get content to keep them at arms -length a bit and that is how it panned out, but if we can nick pick at 3-0 then I would certainly take that every week.
“When the draw was made, we had two other League One sides and this Wolves side, we have managed to win them all, so that is a real positive as well. We will see who we get in the next round and hopefully we can do well in this competition and take that into our league form.”
The Alex return to league action tomorrow night when they pay a visit to Bolton Wanderers.
Artell admits it has been a tough season so far, but is grateful for the support he has received from the Crewe hierarchy.
He added: “I speak to the chairman almost daily and I speak to the other directors often enough. I know that is it down to me, the staff and the players to get ourselves out of it.
“The buck stops with the manager. That is football and football management. I know how the land lies and I also know that the board here think in the long-term. As a manager you can only be thankful for that and we have to repay that faith by getting some results.
“We have a big 15 games coming up. If we don’t get points on the board during that phase of the season then the remaining 15 would be irrelevant anyway. I’ve said it before, but any result or performance can be a turning point in a season and we need to get that and then use it to go the other way.
“It can happen and we need to keep working hard and improving and if we do then hopefully our football will come through.”