Crewe boss Lee Bell says his side’s 0-0 draw with Gillingham can only be considered a point gained if they go one better against Forest Green on Easter Monday.
After one win in their last six games, the Railwaymen have slipped out of the automatic promotion picture, trailing the top three by seven points with six games to go.
Nevertheless, Bell was pleased with his side’s resolve in an entertaining draw at play-off chasing Gillingham and hopes to use the result as the foundation for a strong end to the season.
“We were well worthy of a point, it was probably about right,” he said. “I thought we were just going to nick one. We were starting to open them up.
“I thought they would take a few more risks when they were on the ball. All in all it’s a pleasing point on a windy day on a tough pitch to play on.”
Elliott Nevitt missed a good chance to put the visitors ahead and Bell knows that another blank against basement boys Forest Green on Monday would be a far more damaging result.
“We would have liked three points,” he said. “If you look at the league it’s so tight. We’ve got to try and turn this point into a really good point by the end of next week.
“When you’re playing teams in and around you they’re going to be nip-and-tuck games.
“They are tough away games, Gillingham are a good team. A lot of managers would have taken a point here at the start of the season.
“I thought we showed a lot of professionalism to silence a big crowd and I’m really pleased with the side’s application.”
The Gills had the better of the play and nearly took an early lead when Timothee Dieng’s header was superbly tipped around a post by Tom Booth.
Manager Stephen Clemence was happy to settle for a point but knows an anxious end to the season lies ahead, with Gillingham’s play-off hopes out of their hands.
“You want to be in the mix with five games to go and we are,” he said. “I know teams have games in hand and it is out of our hands in that respect. I don’t think any teams will win all of their games.
“We’re in seventh spot with five games to go so we’ll see what happens.
“If you can try and get four points from the Easter break then you would take that.
“Results could have gone differently for us. If we took our chances we’d probably be in the play-off places quite comfortably.
“What I do know about this group of players is they will go right until the very end.”