Lee Bell says Crewe need to raise their crossing game so they can turn the corner on afternoons like this one.

Goalmouth action was at a premium at the Mornflake Stadium and a frustrating goalless draw – the Alex's third of the campaign – proved poor entertainment for a 4,379 crowd.

AFC Wimbledon's cautious approach after losing key loan players to recalls at the end of the week combined with a poor pitch were contributory factors. But while Crewe carved the game's best chance - which Bassala Sambou put onto a post – they also lacked impetus themselves and boss Bell was unhappy with the lack of deliveries from out wide.

Bell said: "We wanted more crosses into the box. We have got to get the players putting more deliveries in, not just chucking balls in from too far away, when they get into those positions.

"I looked at the goals throughout the Football League last week and a lot came from crosses. We're not high on the stats for crosses, so we've got to put more into the box to help us create more chances."

Lachlan Brook takes aim against AFC Wimbledon (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

After a first-half to forget, Crewe did have the edge after the restart when Sambou was sizing up the goal from Rio Adebisi's low cross. But the striker, who has managed just one goal this season - an FA Cup winner against Leyton Orient - steered his effort onto the near post. Late in the game he also headed over from a promising position after Dan Agyei found him with a tasty cross.

AFC Wimbledon were workmanlike, but carried no threat during a stop-start game, which wasn't helped by some very fussy refereeing by Chris Pollard.

They were hit by the loss of young defender Ryley Towler, an impressive performer during his loan spell from Bristol City, and with Brentford also recalling Paris Maghoma and skipper Alex Woodyard missing because of injury, Dons boss Johnnie Jackson was delighted how his side battled for a point.

He said: "As pleased as we are for Ryley that he has got a move to a higher level, he's been unbelievable for us and we're gutted that he was not here. Paris has also been a really important player for us this season and, again, his recall was out of the blue.

"I felt like it was set up for us not to get anything. Yet we've come here and put in a really solid performance to get a point. You could see the lads were fighting for it."

Dan Agyei tussles for the ball (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

Regan Griffiths gets on the ball (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

Crewe have also had loan stints ending in recent days, although neither Eli King nor Khanya Leshabela have made their mark in south Cheshire. Meanwhile, homegrown Conor O'Riordan has made the journey the other way after finishing his stint at Raith Rovers and his no nonsense style helped shore up the rearguard in his first game back.

Bell added: "We should have won the game and looked the most likely to do so. The one clear-cut chance in the game we didn't put away and we need to take those sort of chances when they come.

"AFC Wimbledon have taken a massive hit in the last few days so we were unsure what was going to be out there. But we set up to play their best team. I thought they slowed the game down which was frustrating, but we pushed on to try and win it, which is why we put Callum Ainley on.

"I wanted to win the game, but we will always take a clean sheet in front of what was a really good crowd."