Lee Bell believes Crewe could have beaten fellow promotion chasers Barrow by a wider margin after an impressive 3-1 win at Holker Street.
Bell admitted he would be “nit picking” to find fault in his side’s superb display as they closed to within four points of leaders Stockport.
Crewe’s fourth successive win took them above Barrow and included first senior goals in the second half for Lewis Billington and fellow teenager Matus Holicek.
Elliott Nevitt took his season’s tally to 11 by cancelling out Robbie Gotts’ ninth-minute opener but then squandered openings before the break to increase his total.
“It is a fantastic result against a good and well organised team,” said Bell. “We fully deserved the win and our plan worked a treat.
“We could have, probably should have, got a couple more goals but I am delighted for the players.
“Nev was tremendous. He was a goal threat and his link-up play was excellent.
“He played his role perfectly in terms of taking on the information and how we wanted him to play.
“But as I walked off with him, he was disappointed he didn’t get a couple more goals but I couldn’t fault his performance.”
Billington, fresh from a new contract extension, headed in Shilow Tracey’s cross to put Crewe in front.
And with virtually his first touch Holicek, back from a two-month injury lay-off, also headed in after Paul Farman saved Courtney Baker-Richardson’s effort.
“’Billo’ has taken to first team football really well,” said Bell. “We thought it was right to reward him with a new contract.
“Matus is someone we have missed. But he has got to score and create and make an impact when he comes on.
“Both have been at the club for a long time and had excellent coaching. It is a credit to everyone and I am sure they are proud to see these players in the first team.”
Barrow have developed an unwanted recent habit of failing to hold onto leads. And not even lower league goal kings Dom Telford and Cole Stockton could come off the bench to preserve the Holker Street record.
Telford and top scorer Ben Whitfield were denied by Crewe goalkeeper Tom Booth in a frantic late finale.
“We have hit the buffers a little bit,” said Wild after completing his two-game touchline ban.
“But we will come out the other side. Every team does.
“We started well and just needed to push on from the goal. I was pleased with how the first half went as a whole.
“But what we have got to do is tidy up those individual errors. Nobody is working hard for the goals at the moment.
“Our general play was good but individual errors are costing us.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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