Darrell Clarke: Walsall's opponents Crewe can be got at

David Artell’s men sit third in League Two and haven’t lost in their last four games, winning two of them.

And Clarke insists his side must ‘press’ their opponents when they visit the Banks’s Stadium tomorrow.

“Crewe are up there fighting for automatic promotion, they’ve been consistent,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s a lot of difference between the top and bottom of the table.

“Crewe are a possession-based football team and they can open you up if you don’t get in their faces and press, they’ll pick you off.

“Also, they can be got at, like most teams in this division.

“We’ve shown over a period of time that we’re more of a match for any team this season, but some of the results we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.”

The Railwaymen won 2-0 at home to Leyton Orient on Tuesday, despite Artell describing them as a ‘poor’ in possession.

“Nobody would say that was vintage Crewe, but it is a sign of a good team when you win without playing well.

“It wasn’t a good performance, we barely passed the ball to each other. But what we did out of possession was terrific. It’s not how we set up to play, we try to out-score teams, but this was a case of being dogged and determined and hard to beat.

“We stood up to them and that’s why we got a clean sheet and a win,” he said.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant but Crewe fans are spoilt, and when you get a win like that they say it’s lucky. It’s not lucky, we were terrific defensively and you have to appreciate the other side of the game.

“You have to give credit where it’s due. I’ve told the players don’t expect to keep getting away with it when you’re as poor in possession as we were, but I think that’s a rarity.

“The reason we ended up winning 2-0 was because of fitness, character and all those underlying qualities that as Crewe fans and Crewe manager you see in other teams but don’t perhaps see in ourselves because we rely on football.

“Well, we saw all that in abundance.”