Sturrock: 'Players are made of hard stuff'; Gradi: 'Don't think they were better than us'

08 October 2011 23:58
Crewe Alexandra: Both managers had their say after Southend United's 3-1 win over Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road that saw the Essex boys remain top of League Two.

Sturrock: 'Hall is a crossing machine'   Though it took Crewe's full-back Harry Davis to improve on his misfiring forwards efforts and cancel out Kane Ferdinand's 37th minute opener, only for Bilel Moshni, who else, to come off the bench and seal Southend's sixth consequtive win with two goals in the last three minutes of the game.3-1 x top of the league = a happy Blues boss Paul Sturrock. Luggy told the PA: "Bilel gave us an extra threat and he and Ryan Hall coming on changed the game. I told him to get in the box as soon as Hall crossed it. It seemed to work. Hall is a crossing machine and if you have a man the size of Bilel coming in at the far post, he is going to score goals. I was very disappointed with conceding but Crewe deserved to get an equaliser. But the players are showing their character. They weathered the storm and are made of hard stuff."   League Two Top Seven   1 Southend United 12 4 1 1 9 3 4 0 2 12 9 8 1 3 21 12 25 +9 2 Crawley Town 12 5 0 1 14 5 3 1 2 8 12 8 1 3 22 17 25 +5 3 AFC Wimbledon 12 3 1 2 13 11 4 1 1 9 7 7 2 3 22 18 23 +4   4 Shrewsbury Town 12 5 1 0 13 5 2 1 3 5 9 7 2 3 18 14 23 +4 5 Oxford United 12 2 4 0 10 5 4 0 2 7 5 6 4 2 17 10 22 +7 6 Morecambe 12 2 1 3 12 7 4 2 0 11 4 6 3 3 23 11 21 +12 7 Cheltenham Town 12 4 1 1 9 4 2 1 3 9 11 6 2 4 18 15 20 +3   Photos from the official site: www.southendunited.co.uk   A fiver for the Shrimps, fair for all; have a vote: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk   

Gradi: 'They didn't win easy and they know that'   Meanwhile, Alex boss Dario Gradi knows his side put up a good show against the league leaders and felt his side are getting into dangerous habits where their defending is concerned.   Gradi told www.crewealex.net: "They didn't win easy and they know that. Our games are following a trend with goals against us. But I've got to be careful not to get after the players because they will be disappointed and down. I'm not going to lift them by having a go at them but we are making a lot of mistakes. They made a lot of mistakes too but we couldn't punish them. But we made some poor mistakes."   The veteran Gradi, who has been at the club in some form for 28 years now, continued to believe that Crewe were equal to the Shrimpers, something he may be able to argue on the day, but the league table doesn't lie over the long term as the Railwaymen remain in 19th position, 12 points behind the Blues.   He said: "I don't think they were better than us and we had some good chances in the first half and then fizzled out, AJ and Nick did well but Byron couldn't really get a chance. We have got to improve our play and our defending but I don't think we are too far off. But the boys have got a good spirit and will keep going. We have got a tough match next week (at AFC Wimbledon) and we will prepare for it and hopefully do a little better.

Source: FOOTYMAD