David Artell insisted there will be no let up from Grimsby’s players in their remaining three games although they need just a point to guarantee League Two football next term after a resounding win at Crewe.
Goals from Toby Mullarkey before the break and Curtis Thompson and Denver Hume in the second half emphasised the Mariners’ dominance at Artell’s former club and lifted them six points clear of second-bottom Sutton.
But Artell stressed: “We’re not safe yet and we’ve still got three big games left. We know what we need to do. It’s not done yet and we will have to perform like that again. We need another point to be mathematically safe, but we will go into the game on Tuesday against Colchester to win.
“We were outstanding today and our recent form had suggested we could tonk someone. That performance has been in us for a while. Our ball retention and our shape on the ball was very good and I don’t think Crewe really got into our half until later in the game.
“We had 21 shots on goal because we created so much more which is down to the work we have been doing over a number of weeks. We’ve got to make sure we perform like this on a regular basis and strive for consistency.
“We will have a big summer ahead and there’s some ability in this group that we will need to get more from.”
Crewe’s form has dipped badly in the run-un with five defeats in their last 10 games damaging their hopes.
Manager Lee Bell said: “We’ve got to get back to doing what we’ve done for 99 per cent of the season. We’ve got to show a lot more desire than we did today. We were dominated from start to finish and I think we only had five minutes in the second half when we played, but it was too late in the day.
“I’m going to have to find out the reasons why, but it is clear the boys are struggling at the moment.
“Unfortunately, Tom has overstretched his hamstring, but Max comes to us with some experience which is really good. He’s a good goalkeeper who has played plenty of football this year.”
Hurzeler delighted by Brighton 'togetherness' in battling win
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler was in fighting mode at full-time as he praised the Seagulls' "togetherness" in their 2-1 win away at Bournemouth.
Hurzeler's charges signed off for the international break with a 2-1 home victory over defending champions Manchester City, and they mirrored the scoreline at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday thanks to Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma.
Despite his expansive and high-wire tactical approach receiving plenty of praise so far this season, it was Brighton's mental strength that caught the eye late on, after being reduced to ten players in the 59th minute through Carlos Baleba's red card.
It set up a nervy finale for the visitors, which included a 93rd-minute consolation goal from David Brooks and Antoine Semenyo smacking the bar, but the grit to get the result over the line pleased the Brighton manager.
"We have to see the performance from different viewpoints," he told Sky Sports.
"From one side of things, it was not the best football game from ourselves, but it was a good game to prove our togetherness, to show we can suffer together and defend together - that's why I'm proud of my team.
"The other side is that we can play better football. In some moments, we were lucky, in some moments, Bournemouth were better. Of course, the red card changes the game for me. That's why I am proud. We can play better football.
"We also had really good moments, we tried to play our from the back even when the pressure was really high. That's why I was pleased with some moments, but not with the whole game."
Hurzeler was also left frustrated by Stuart Attwell's decision to dismiss Baleba for a second yellow card with the visitors 2-0 in front.
"It's a clear thing. It can't be a yellow card the second one, never ever," he added. "Hopefully the referee will look at this and make a decision, and they take back the yellow card, because honestly, that's never a yellow card."
Victory moves Brighton up to fifth in the Premier League table - their highest position since mid-October - with struggling Southampton next up for Hurzeler's side.
Sunderland go top of Championship despite late draw with Millwall
Sunderland leapfrogged Sheffield United back to the top of the Championship table after their 1-1 draw with Millwall on Saturday.
Aaron Connelly had given Sunderland the lead just 10 minutes in, benefitting from a clearance to beat Lukas Jensen on the volley and claiming his first goal for the club before the players were taken off the field for half an hour due to two medical emergencies in the crowd.
Millwall were a different side when they came back out onto the pitch, with Anthony Patterson having to pull off a string of fine saves to preserve Sunderland's lead.
The hosts eventually got a deserved goal in the 93rd minute though, as Femi Azeez stabbed home Aidomo Emakhi's cross for his first Millwall goal.
It is a fourth consecutive draw for Sunderland, who sit above Sheffield United on goal difference, while Millwall stay eighth.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough moved back into the playoff places with a thumping 6-2 victory over Oxford United.
A hat-trick from Emmanuel Latte Lath, a double from Finn Azaz and another from substitute Tommy Conway saw Boro score six goals in an away league game for the first time in 64 years.
Greg Leigh had given the hosts a surprise lead, and though Dane Scarlett halved the deficit with his second-half goal to make it 4-2, they could not mount a comeback, leaving them 18th in the table, while Middlesbrough jumped up to fifth.
Meanwhile, Luton Town eased some of the pressure on manager Rob Edwards with their 1-0 win over struggling Hull City to move out of the drop zone.
Mark McGuiness scored the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute, brilliantly volleying his maiden Hatters goal in to help Luton move up to 16th.
Hull could not find a winner, despite Joao Pedro hitting the post in the first half, and they dropped into the relegation zone as their winless run extended to eight matches.
Norwich City are on a run of seven games without a win after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with West Brom.
Emiliano Marcondes and an own goal from Torbjorn Heggem gave Norwich the lead after Mason Holgate's early opener, but Josh Maja's 10th goal of the campaign cancelled out their lead just before half-time to earn them a point.
Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 Heidenheim: Hat-trick hero Schick inspires five-star comeback
A hat-trick from Bayer Leverkusen's Patrik Schick inspired the Bundesliga champions to come from two goals down to beat Heidenheim 5-2 on Saturday.
The emphatic triumph saw Xabi Alonso's side extend their unbeaten league run to nine matches, moving them up to fourth but still nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
However, Leverkusen found themselves behind inside the opening 10 minutes when Niklas Dorsch was teed up by Marvin Pieringer inside the box.
Heidenheim doubled their advantage soon after through Mathias Honsak, who danced his way beyond three defenders before finishing into the bottom left corner.
But two goals in two minutes from Exequiel Palacios and Schick drew the hosts level, with Leverkusen able to take a hold of the contest after the interval.
Schick notched his second of the game seven minutes after the restart to put Leverkusen ahead when he brilliantly flicked Florian Wirtz's cross beyond Kevin Muller.
The Czech striker completed his hat-trick with a header in the 71st minute, with Granit Xhaka sealing the win with a curled finish into the far left corner.
Data Debrief: Patrik hero
Ahead of kick-off, Leverkusen were dealt a huge injury blow with in-form striker Victor Boniface potentially ruled out until next year, but they needn't have worried.
Schick grasped his opportunity with both hands, putting on an impressive display and ending the game with more shots on target (four) and more touches in the opposition box (13), while also accumulating a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.37 to Leverkusen's 2.05 total.
He has now scored three or more goals in a Bundesliga game on three occasions for Leverkusen, with only Ulf Kirsten (seven) having done so more times for the club.
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