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.”
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.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
