STEVE Davis wants more fight from his rock-bottom Crewe Alexandra side as they look to bounce back against Chesterfield on Saturday.

The Alex were booed off the pitch after a 2-1 defeat at home to Southend United on Tuesday night left them at the foot of the League One table one again.

Joe Pigott’s brace, either side of a Brad Inman strike, ensured it was 10 games without a win down Gresty Road and frustrations are running high.

And there was no consolation either after the hosts were simply out-fought and out-smarted by Phil Brown’s experienced side.

It came after Davis’ side had began to show improvements, with a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Walsall following a win over Shrewsbury.

“There are no excuses, they were better than us,” admitted Davis.

“It’s disappointing we were not able to capitalise on a couple of good away results and we’re finding it hard to keep the ball out of the net at home.

“We talk about starting well but the more we talk about it the worse we seem to get, which is frustrating.

“You can put as many systems on the pitch as you want but it comes down to whether the players can do well in possession and out of possession.

“It took their first goal to wake us up, but despite getting the equaliser it seemed quite easy for them.

“It came from our own throw-in where nobody showed for the ball, they hid and I expect better.

“They were more streetwise than us, it comes with experience and is hard to teach. They used it to their advantage.

“Ryan (Colclough) looked dangerous, Brad (Inman) took his goal fantastically well, but we only had three or four players performing and you can’t get away from that.

“Something is going on in their heads about playing in front of their own fans, it should be somewhere they enjoy playing but we are not seeing enough signs of that.

“The key to football is how you respond to disappointments. We have let too many goals in this season, we have lost too many games, but we have to go again.

“We have to keep good spirit and the players have to do better. If they can’t we will have to look at bringing others in.

“Whatever we do at home to Chesterfield we have to have 11 players playing well, performing, and we haven’t had that for a period of time. We have to get more consistency, show more fight to go on and win the game.

“We hoped we would gain more attacking impetus from having that extra attacker but it didn’t happen often enough.

“I understand the fans’ frustration.

“They want to see their team win every week and so do I. It is not for the lack of trying I can assure you.”