Crewe Alexandra boss believes his side are in better shape than last season

Crewe boss David Artell believes his side are in better shape than last season, despite currently sitting 18th in the league.

Their early season form has been good at home, a draw and a win from two games and a goal difference of plus six. They’ve kept two clean sheets and look comfortable on their own turf.

Away from home it is a different story, having played three and lost all three. They’ve failed to score away from home, conceding eight, including six at Colchester.

Still, manager Artell believes they’re in a better condition than they were last time out.

“Despite losing Harry and Paul to injury, I still think we are in better shape than we were at this stage last season,” he told the club’s official website. “There is more depth to the squad and other than one or two positions; we can cope with better with the injuries. I am not sure where we were at this stage last season. I’m told where we are in the table but don’t look at it at this stage. It is still very early.”

They host Macclesfield Town this weekend, themselves buoyed by their Carabao Cup exploits at Walsall.

Our View

Is there a worry they can’t play away from home? Losing 6-0 anywhere is unacceptable and Artell said his players would reimburse fans who travelled. Similarly, they thumped Morecambe on the opening day of the season to get off to a fine start, but that hasn’t been continued.

If they can move past the inconsistency and find some form away from home, perhaps Artell will be proven right. At the moment, the jury is still out.