Crewe boss Lee Bell frustrated by goalless draw at Port Vale
The manager of the visitors felt they had the better of the chances.
Crewe manager Lee Bell came away from Port Vale disappointed that their one point from a goalless draw was not all three.
After three games, the Railwaymen are yet to concede in the league but, despite not converting the chances they had to beat their local rivals, Bell was keeping a sense of perspective.
“I’m coming away from the game with a tinge of disappointment,” he said. “I thought we created the better opportunities in the game and it was, to a man, an outstanding away performance.
“I thought throughout the game they’ve only had one real chance so there’s disappointment that it’s a derby game that we’ve not come and won.
“I thought sometimes we went too long, too early with the decisions, but when we did put some football together, I thought we played some really good stuff, particularly in the second half.
“It’s three clean sheets to start to start the season, two away, picking up four points away from home. That’s a brilliant return, and we’ve got one of the toughest starts to the season on paper.
“The fans were magnificent today, absolutely brilliant in backing the players and I thought the players gave them what they wanted, they worked their socks off, to a man.
“They showed brilliant body language and attitude throughout the game.
“I’m trying to not keep this in isolation, and looking at how the season’s unfolding a little bit at the minute. But we think we could have got the three.”
Vale boss Jon Brady also felt they could have snatched victory, but with his side still seeking a first win, he acknowledged that his team is struggling for goals in the season’s early stages.
“Overall, I felt we dominated the game without putting the ball in the back of the net,” said Brady. “We’ve created a lot of chances and the keeper made some good saves, they’ve made some good blocks. We pushed right to the end, just not hard enough to get over the line.
“We dominated the ball, they tried to sit back but the game started wavering in the second half before we got our structure back and we got back in control and started creating more chances.
“I think in the first half we had all the territory, and for most of the second half too, apart from that five or 10-minute period where we lost control and it wavered because we were gambling so much at the back and leaving ourselves one on one at times. We reduced them to very minimal chances though, I felt we had most of the best chances in the match.
“We’re doing everything but putting the ball in the back of the net. It’s down to decision making and composure.
“We believe it’ll come though, and we’ve just got to keep working at it.”