CREWE boss David Artell says his side need to “start picking up points sharpish” ahead of their League One clash with Wanderers on Friday night.

Artell’s men sit at the bottom of the league table, having won just one of their 16 matches so far this season.

The Crewe boss admits they are in danger of being left adrift if they don’t find a way to start winning games soon.

“We all know we don’t want to be in this predicament and it is up to me and the players to get ourselves out of it,” he told Cheshire Live. “It is as simple as that, in whatever way we can do. The buck stops here, I get that.

“So, there is no kidding myself on. I know where the land lies, I am not stupid. I would like to think I am quite a clever bloke and we have to make sure that doubt or those questions get taken away.

“But it is not about me. It is about the players developing, enjoying their football, playing the right way and it is about them wanting to play for the football club. I am sure that we will get there but we can’t leave it too late.

“We’ve not had a good first 15 or 16 games and, if we leave it another 15 or 16 games, then the last 15 or 16 are irrelevant.

“So, we have a big 15 games coming up and we have to make sure that we start picking up points sharpish.”

Artell admits he was expecting a tough season and says keeping the Railwaymen up would “probably be the biggest achievement of my career”.

The Crewe boss says he appreciates the support of the board as he tries to get their season back on track.

He added: “Did we predict this? The truth is I was telling the chairman 12 months ago that this was probably going to happen, and thankfully he understands.

“That doesn’t mean it is right or we should just accept that because that is just admitting defeat. We have to try to stay in this league this year, it is as simple as that.

“If we do that, it would probably be the biggest achievement of my career. I actually said that to someone before a ball was kicked.

“That is the magnitude of what we are up against and we have to make sure that comes to fruition.”