DAVE Artell wants Crewe's players to improve on two disappointing showings when they travel to Doncaster Rovers tomorrow.

A lethargic home display against Blackpool (1-1) was followed by defeat (0-1) at Sunderland on Tuesday night which leaves the Alex still seeking their first points on their travels.

Artell believes the Tangerines clash was a small blip after a positive start at Gresty Road which had seen back-to-back wins compiled against MK Dons and Wigan.

The Crewe boss accepts his side came up against "far superior" opposition in midweek and said: "We've not got it right in both games and in the second game the other team were good enough to win comfortably.

"There are going to be two or three times that like that, but the rest of the league is a much of a muchness.

"The lads are getting better all the time, but Tuesday night was disappointing as we had too many players off our game. But they are not going to get hammered by me as they have got a lot of brownie points.

"Hopefully it's another lesson for them and we'll take that on and improve."

Artell is contemplating changes for the League One clash with Darren Moore's Yorkshire outfit who have started the season well with four wins from their six games, including an impressive 4-1 thrashing of promotion favourites Ipswich in midweek.

"They have got one or two excellent footballers and a manager who knows his way in this league and the one above. He was unlucky to lose his job at West Brom - what they did to him was poor form," said the Crewe manager.

"We are getting better bar the last couple of games and if we keep improving there's lots more to come from this squad."