Crewe Alex were on the receiving end twice in the space of 24 hours as a heavy League Two defeat was followed by yesterday's drubbing by a Premiership B side.

The Railwaymen's poor form showed no signs of abating at Prenton Park on Friday night as they succumbed to a 3-0 loss against Micky Mellon's Tranmere side.

A first-half strike by Southampton loanee Dynel Simeu was followed up by a second-half double from sub Elliott Nevitt.

A mediocre performance never looked like offering the Alex the prospect of ending their long winless run at Tranmere - a 3-1 win in September 2000, in which Rob Hulse netted twice, was their last league victory on the Wirral.

Rovers' Scottish loan keeper Ross Doohan was barely called into action and Courtney Baker-Richardson headed the Alex's best opportunity wide in the second half.

One of the few pluses was a first senior start for Academy-produced attacker Joel Tabiner. But the Alex's season is stalling in a worrying fashion after just one win in the last nine games.

Sub Bas Sambou climbs high at Tranmere on Friday night (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

A mixture of squad players and inexperienced youngsters were in action at the Mornflake Stadium on Saturday (October 15) in a behind-closed-doors game against Brentford's B team.

The match had been touted beforehand as a potential trial run-out for David Beckham's son, Romeo. But the Inter Miami youngster didn't feature and the Bees rammed five goals past Dave Richards after Oli Finney handed Crewe a first-half lead (1-5).