Artell encouraged after ‘Crewe-like’ display in draw

BURTON Albion face a Crewe Alexandra side still waiting for their first win of the League One season tomorrow.

But manager David Artell thinks he saw promising signs in their 1-1 draw away to Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

It was only the second game in six in which Crewe had scored, their other goal coming in an opening day 1-1 draw at home to Cheltenham Town. Other than that, they have had 2-0 defeats against Portsmouth and Charlton Athletic and 1-0 reverses against Oxford United and Accrington Stanley.

Their only win was 1-0 away to Hartlepool United in the Carabao Cup before they went out 3-0 to Leeds United in the second round.

Crewe fell behind to a Sam Cosgrove goal against Shrewsbury but equalised before half-time through Mikael Mandron.

Artell said the performance was “more Crewe-like.”

“I watched the game back on Sunday and thought we were better than I thought at the time,” said Artell.

“We had some really good chances to have scored again and they had two crosses into the box really. One they scored from and with the other one Will Jaaskelainen made a good save from Ryan Bowman.

“We played well in patches and we certainly looked more Crewe-like. That is more like I want us to play and I am sure the players want to play.

“There were some real positives to take from the performance but we also have to remember that there will be more challenging games to come. I am sure Shrewsbury will feel the same because it wasn’t as though it was Sheffield Wednesday or Sunderland away.

“We have to keep working in training and the work we have been able to do last week and now into this week has helped.”

Artell gave debuts to two new signings up front, J’Neil Bennett and Scott Kashket and saw promise from them.

“I thought the debutants did very well. They could be pleased with the way their first game went, although I am sure they are both disappointed not to have scored.

“J’Neil is exciting. He is prepared to take people on and should provide assists and goals. Scott is lively and is prepared to run in behind and cause problems.

“We hope they will be effective for us in the final third and help the team.

“It is up to us as coaches to make them more effective.

“They have not been with us that long so they will need a bit of time to get used to how we play and us to how they like to play. That is coming with the training we are doing and we will get there.

“Saturday saw some foundations laid and those seeds are there for growth.”

The Brewers probably cannot expect their visit to Gresty Road to go as ideally as last season’s, when Kane Hemmings put away a Tom Hamer long throw, then twice capitalised on defensive errors to complete a 34-minute hat-trick before they saw out the rest of the game virtually unthreatened by the home side.