Crewe must get back to 'front-foot' football - Bell

Crewe boss Lee Bell has called his side's run of recent results in League Two unacceptable

Crewe Alexandra manager Lee Bell says side need to rediscover their "front-foot football" and start to look a threat again in their bid to improve their recent run of poor results.

The Alex have slipped from the top of League Two after following four straight wins with a sequence of four narrow defeats in their next five matches.

In that time, they have taken just one point - from a 1-1 draw at Colchester - and scored just twice.

"We want to get back on track as quickly as possible and alter the performances going forward," Bell told BBC Radio Stoke.

Crewe's stuttering form has frustrated Bell, who said their recent displays have not been acceptable.

"We want to try to move away from that," he said, and added he has made it clear to his squad what he wants to see.

"To look that threat again, have that freedom with players further up the pitch and be exciting on the ball.

"We have been on the front foot. Our ground duels and ariel duels have gone up but errors have made things look a bit different.

"We've got to stop individual mistakes and have a bit more clarity in our decision making.

"I don't mind a basketball game, if that's what it looks like, but we've got to make sure we get our creative, and better, players into the areas we need them to be in."

Home fans 'expecting a positive response'

Bell says he is not thinking about making radical changes to try to stop the slump in results but says he does have two of his recent signings - Jay Mingy and Dion Rankine in contention to face Notts County on Saturday (12:30 BST).

"We're always looking at freshen things up and looking at heat maps to see where players are doing their work but I don't think it's a big, drastic change in the shape - it's maybe just moving one or two players around," he said.

"I don't think it's a system thing - it's not as if we're light in midfield and teams are going through us.

"We've conceded single goals and if we eradicate those errors things would look a lot different.

"The home fans will be expecting a positive response after that they've seen in the last two games so we've got to embrace that."