Crewe Alexandra boss on Sunderland defeat and what Alex Neil said to him after the game

Sunderland dominated possession and territory but it took until the 84th minute for Dan Neil to break the deadlock, with Patrick Roberts adding a second four minutes later.

Crewe had just three shots in the 90 minutes but Artell said his side had the best chances of the game, with Chris Long in particular missing two good second-half openings.

He said his players had executed the game plan well and added that he felt his side had mirrored the performance of MK Dons, who won 2-1 on the same turf a few weeks ago.

"We've had the three best chances in the game," Artell said.

"Three 1-v-1s, one in the first half then two in the second. Then we get hit with the sucker punch at the end. That seems to be the story of our season and where we are at the minute.

"I said to the lads that they should have be proud of their performance, if we score one of those chances it's a different game.

"It's a cruel game.

"We're not going to come here and put together flowing moves. MK Dons came here and played exactly the same, and won 2-1. We could have done exactly the same.

"Our goalkeeper has barely had a save to make; maybe I have rose-tinted glasses on. They dominated the ball but we were comfortable with that.

"I thought we executed the game plan well.

"Alex Neil walked down the tunnel with me and said, 'you can sleep tonight'.

"And I can. I've got fourteen lads there who have worked their socks off for the football club. Can they be? Of course they can. But they've given everything."

The defeat leaves Crewe Alexandra still bottom of the League One table.

Artell's side are eight points adrift of safety with just nine games to play. Their upcoming fixture list underlines their challenge in trying to achieve safety, with Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic and MK Dons their next three opponents.

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