Crewe defeat an expected 'bump in the road' - Bell

Crewe Alexandra were always going to have a "bump in the road" in their challenge to make the League Two play-offs and Tuesday's home defeat by Fleetwood was proof of that says manager Lee Bell.

The Alex suffered their first loss at the Mornflake Stadium in 10 games as Mark Helm's 20-yarder in the first half proved enough to seal the win for the Cod Army.

Although "bitterly disappointed" at the result, Bell said he could not fault the effort his players put in.

"[It was] not a great game all round, we didn't get a foothold in the game and I believe there was a handball in the build up to the goal," Bell told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I've not had a go at the players, I've actually praised them.

"What they've produced for us recently has been nothing short of magnificent."

A win would have lifted Crewe into the play-off places but they remain on the fringes, two points behind Salford in seventh and one point ahead of Walsall, who play Grimsby on Wednesday.

Bell's side have played three more matches than both of those sides and one more than the rest of the top six, bar second-placed Swindon Town.

Nevertheless Bell remains confident his side will bounce back from Tuesday's disappointment as they go to Swindon at the weekend.

"If you can put a sustained run together, you can get into the pack and beyond it," he said.

"If we'd have picked up three points, we'd be a place higher and teams have games in hand on us, so we don't know how that's going to pan out.

"The main things is the effort's still there from the players.

"I said there would be a bump in the road and if that was down to lack of effort then there would be words but it's not down to effort. It wasn't our night.

"We are somewhere near [the play-offs] and we'll look to be positive on Saturday."