Tariq Uwakwe delivers positive Crewe Alexandra message after Colchester United win | OneFootball

Crewe Alexandra midfielder Tariq Uwakwe says his side’s 1-0 win over Colchester United at the Mornflake Stadium on Saturday was much-needed.

The Railwaymen ended a run of seven games without a win with victory over the bottom side at the weekend, with Dan Agyei’s 80th-minute winner securing all three points.

It has been a disappointing season for the Alex after relegation from the third tier, currently sitting 16th in the table and also without a manager.

Alex Morris stepped down earlier this month for compassionate reasons, becoming assistant manager with Lee Bell taking charge on an interim basis.

It has been a positive start for the 39-year-old, with a 1-0 home win over league leaders Leyton Orient in the FA Cup last weekend followed up by Saturday’s success.

Crewe didn’t have it all their own way against the U’s, with goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo having to make a number of saves, but Agyei’s late goal gave Bell his first league win.

Uwakwe, who joined the club from Chelsea in January, believes the victory could be crucial and a turning point for his side moving forward.

“We needed it, we’ve been lacking a bit of form recently. But now we’ve had an FA Cup win and a win in the league finally, so we can bring the form back. Hopefully we can push on from here,” Uwakwe told the club’s official website.

“It’s always a great feeling when you get the three points, especially when you’re coming off a hard week of training. It was big to get them.

“I saw Dan running in and I wasn’t sure if I could get it to him. But when I saw the flight of the ball and I knew he was scoring, it was a great feeling.”

Bell now has a full week on the training ground to get his ideas across to his players ahead of next Saturday’s tough trip to face promotion hopefuls Swindon Town at the County Ground and Uwakwe believes this time will be important.

“It’s always great to play midweek games, but now we have to focus on training through the week to get ready for next weekend. We have a great set of lads and we have to keep believing, we’ll get there,” Uwakwe said.

“We already had a good defensive structure, but we need to score more goals. We’ve got some great forwards with great attacking attributes and we just need to keep working on that in training and showing it in the games.

“Belly (interim manager Lee Bell) demands so much intensity day in, day out and it is helping us to kick on.”

Quiz: Which British club did Crewe Alexandra sign these 26 players from?

1 of 26

Kenny Lunt (2008)

Barnsley Hull City Sheff Wed Sheff Utd

The verdict

There is no doubt of the significance of Saturday’s victory.

The Railwaymen were on a terrible run of form and failure to beat the side sitting bottom of the league at home would have been incredibly frustrating.

As a club who regularly promote from within, it was always likely that Bell would be given the manager’s job on a permanent basis, but results so far have strengthened his case.

Uwakwe’s comments also suggest the players have bought into Bell’s methods and this is positive moving forward if he is to get an extended run in the role.

The game against an in-form Swindon at the weekend will be incredibly tricky, but Crewe will be hoping that Saturday’s morale-boosting win will provide the platform for them to build for the rest of the season.