DAVE Artell hasn't dished out many changing room dressing downs in the last two years.

But if there were cups and saucers lying around Gresty Road they were at risk as the Alex boss let his players know what he thought about Crewe's worst performance of the season which saw an impressive home run surrendered after 11 games unbeaten.

You couldn't have wished to see three goals as bad as the ones that put in-form Burton on their way to a sixth consecutive win as they move clear of the bottom four under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink direction.

But it was the lack of energy his players offered in an abject first-half that irritated Artell as much as the goals which were all plundered in clinical fashion by Kane Hemmings.

"I shouted at them at half-time not necessarily because it was 0-3, but because some of them were not running around," accused Artell.

"The goals were unacceptable, the first one bounced four times before the lad touched it in and you don't see that on parks. The second was a goalkick and the third the lad just nicked it, although it was less unacceptable as at least we were trying to play football.

"But you have to tell them and it is disappointing as I can't remember the last time I had to."

Perhaps after the levels of excellence Crewe have shown on home turf, Hemmings' 10th-mimute opener was the hint that this was an afternoon that wasn't going to go to plan.

A long throw from Tom Hamer was allowed to bounce around the box after Owen Dale missed a clearing header and the striker touched an easy finish.

Hemmings then seized on Omar Beckles' awkward connection on the end of Ben Garratt's long goalkick to grab his second, firing under Dave Richards (23). The frontmen then intercepted Rio Adebisi's crossfield ball to race clear of Beckles and complete his hat-trick in the 34th minute.

Before the game Artell admitted he'd probably made the right decision letting Garratt leave the club in the summer of 2019 after six seasons of sterling service.

The keeper was inspired on his first return, though, keeping out Luke Murphy's belting low drive in the first half and thwarting Tom Lowery in a second half in which Crewe improved, but yet could still have been punished further.

They were fortunate referee Graham Salisbury chose to ignore penalty appeals when substitute Michael Fondop was hauled over by Beckles in the closing minutes.

Artell promised his players they will be watching the video nasty rerun on Monday and admitted: "You learn more in defeat than you do in victory. We've had setbacks before, but that was awful and there's lots of other adjectives to describe that which are not pleasant."

Meanwhile, Hasselbaink, in the space of two months since his appointment, has transformed a side which looked ready for the drop before Christmas. The Brewers are now seven points clear of the bottom four, but their manager stressed: "While we are going in the right direction, we have done nothing yet.

"Today was a brilliant execution and a brilliant game, but we can't celebrate too long. We forced Crewe to make mistakes and capitalised on their mistakes. From their mistakes we looked really dangerous."

Crewe: Richards; Adebisi, Beckles, Wood, Pickering; Lowery, Murphy (Porter), Wintle (Evans); Dale (Walker), Mandron, Kirk (Ainley) Subs: Jaaskelainen, Johnson, Lancashire.

Burton Garratt: Brayford, Hamer, Mancienne, Carter; Taylor (O'Toole), Clare; Smith (Broom), Edwards (Power), Akins; Hemmings (Fondop) Subs: O'Hara, Power, Earl, Rowe