Alex Morris thinks Crewe face a long haul returning to former glories as the reality of League Two football begins to bite.

Scott Kashket was kind enough to let strike partner Mikael Mandron claim Gillingham's goal at the Mornflake Stadium yesterday afternoon. But generosity was in short supply for the Alex faithful as they watched two former strikers play their part in a sloppily conceded opener and then had to endure a mediocre afternoon of football.

Dan Agyei's superb curled finish, which levelled matters up in the 19th-minute, was a momentary bright spot in a game which died a death in the second half when there was virtually no goalmouth action of note at either end.

With just one win in the last eight, Crewe have slipped into the bottom half of the table and their manager says he will need a second transfer window to remedy the problems of last season's relegation.

A promising start is in danger of stalling and the prospect of a season of transition probably won't be palatable to some, particularly when the fare on offer at home is as poor as this.

"We're coming off the back of what happened last season and I'm sick of repeating myself as it takes a long time to solidify and put the building blocks in place to move again. It doesn't just happen," warned Morris.

"People say you're 12 games in and that's long enough, but no it's not. These players need much more than 12 games and if I don't think I can get them there quick enough then we'll look at things in the future."

"This is where the boys are at the minute, we are trying hard to get attacking football going but it's not as easy as people think. Gillingham are a competitive League Two side and we are nowhere near the team that last left [got promoted] this league. It could take a hell of a long time getting there."

Dan Agyei struck a first-half leveller at the Mornflake Stadium (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

Gillingham may be the division's lowest scorers, but at the other end of the pitch Morris' men lacked the guile to break them down. Agyei was their best outlet and he almost grabbed a second with an attempted lob over keeper Glenn Morris.

But neither Bas Sambou or Courtney Baker-Richardson, declared fit after his X-box injury scare, were at the races.

Then there is the disconnect between a solid back four and the top end of the pitch with an overly defensive-minded midfield lacking in flare. There are injuries that are limiting the manager's options with Chris Long an absentee who could make a difference.

But a summer squad revamp has not been kind to the club's Academy ethos either and yesterday the only homegrown starters were Luke Offord and Rio Adebisi.

That might be tolerated for now if there was more panache to the play and excitement around the goals in games. That was confined to the first half which started with a flurry from the Gills before Mandron headed on Will Wright's corner and the ball carried across the line despite Kashket's best efforts to help it in with a close-range back heel (12).

Former Alex man Mikael Mandron opened the scoring for Gillingham (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

Agyei's equaliser should have offered the springboard to success, but there was nothing coming until a late header from Baker-Richardson, which the striker failed to get on target as he fell off balance.

Scottish referee Bobby Madden's final whistle couldn't have come sooner to end this one. Now it can only be hoped there will be a big improvement at Tranmere on Friday night.

Boss Morris admitted: "If we want to move forward then we have to bring a bit more cohesion with those players in terms of combining and playing together in pairs and trios, rather than individually.

"It's also going to need more than a summer window I'm afraid because if you want to build a team it's going to take more than one transfer window on the back of a horrific relegation."