Lee Bell feels Crewe deserved more from draw at Sutton

Crewe boss Lee Bell felt his side deserved more after being held to a 1-1 draw by EFL basement boys Sutton.

The visitors went ahead in the 17th minute when Courtney Baker-Richardson opened the scoring.

But Louis John levelled for the U’s 11 minutes later at Gander Green Lane.

Both sides hit the woodwork as they searched for a winner in the second half, but ultimately had to share the points.

“I thought we deserved three points tonight,” said Bell.

“We were clearly the better team with better football and the way we play.

“The position they’re in, they fought for everything and threw their bodies on the line.

“The game has been defined by small moments in both boxes. Usually we’re more ruthless and that’s been the difference.

“I can’t fault the players for the effort. We lacked a bit of coolness. We got up there quite easily at times.

“The goal’s a killer against us. It’s small details again, which we’ll go through.

“We lacked that calmness. I thought we had the opportunities, but they fought for their manager.

“I absolutely think we’re going in the right direction. I can’t fault the performance of the players. I thought they were excellent.

“On another day we get more clear-cut chances and put one away.

“We’ve hit the crossbar and that type of stuff.

“We’ll go through it and analyse what we didn’t do well in their box and move on.”

The U’s are struggling with an injury crisis and only named six substitutes.

But Matt Gray praised his side’s spirit after they dug deep to get themselves out of trouble once again.

He said: “It was disappointing to concede that first goal again, but the reaction from the team was superb.

“We got the equaliser from a set-piece again and we’re really good at them.

“The attitude and the desire to grind that point out, I’m really proud of them. It was a phenomenal second half of digging in.

“It was a really pleasing performance in terms of the spirit and desire. The midfielders ran their absolute socks off and the defenders threw their bodies in the way of everything second half.

“We’re threadbare at the moment. We have to see how we are in the next couple of days and see if anyone else is fit for the weekend.

“We had a little spell. Aiden (O’Brien) hit the post and we penned them, but unfortunately we couldn’t nick a winner.

“It’s a well-deserved point, it’s a really pleasing point. We rode our luck with a couple flashing across goal, but we’re really pleased.”