Not So Solid Crewe

It's been a busy few days for me, as my recent blog posts would suggest. Because of this I've not been able to blog my thoughts on our Good Friday draw with Gillingham, where we surrendered our 2-1 lead in the final minute of normal time. Maybe it was for the best as I was gutted immediately afterwards and that would have translated on to here. I feel even worse now though, as we rounded off our Easter weekend with a miserable 3-0 defeat to in-form Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road.

In truth I never really expected us to get anything from today's game, even though I'm much more confident going in to every game now under Mark McGhee's stewardship. I just felt that with Crewe being in such good form and with everything to play for, they would have too much for our understrength, experimental side. I was pleased to see Aaron Downes welcomed back in to the starting XI today as his form before the injury he picked up was superb. He brought reassurance to our shaky and vulnerable defence and even though we collapsed to Crewe's attacking threats this afternoon, he performed well on his return. It's been well documented for a number of weeks now, as McGhee admitted when I interviewed him last Thursday, that attention is very much set on next season and whom of the current squad will still be here. It's frustrating as we're going in to games weaker than we could be and playing players out of position. It needs to be done though so we can whittle down the squad to a point that when we begin to strengthen in the summer, we're adding to an already strong group of players. Later this month or in May when the season has ended I'll record my opinions on the players and whether I'd keep them ahead of next season, but one thing's for sure without having to calculate who will still be here - we need to improve the squad.

Tom Parkes talking with McGhee

This was reinforced by the result we suffered today. It was a calamitous start with us being 2-0 down within 6 minutes of the game, striking resemblances with our 3-2 away defeat to Northampton where we trailed 3-0 inside 20 minutes. However, unlike the Sixfields defeat where we came back to finish the stronger of the two sides and unlucky not to equalise, we saw out the remainder of this game with little quality up top. Tom Parkes was playing at left back, an unfamiliar position for him, and that was probably part of the reason we were so woeful in the opening exchanges. Parkesy has proved a valuable addition to the squad and has been solid at the back since he arrived on loan from Leicester City, but it was clear this is not his natural position. The experimenting saw left-back Gary Sawyer play in midfield again and we got completely overrun, which doesn't bode well for his chances of starting regularly. Everything was set up for Crewe to exploit and they did so very convincingly.

The penalty just after half-time was the icing on their cake and that was the game sewn up. McGhee didn't hide his admiration for the hosts post-match and branded them the best side he's seen in this division, a title he'd previously handed to Shrewsbury Town. We were unlucky to lose to Shrews when we played them but were ripped to shreds by the Alex, so perhaps they're worthy of such recognition. I wish them well in their quest to make the play-offs, playing like they are will get them there and, in my books, will see them win it.

I'm gutted but not deflated, there's plenty to be optimistic about right now. We're going through the motions and are just waiting for the summer to roll around to strengthen the squad before starting again with fresh hope in August. We're obliged to give it our all in the final games, beginning with Burton Albion on Saturday, but it is difficult when there's nothing to play for. Hopefully the players see it differently and realise they're playing for their futures.

Up the Gas!