Colin Todd hopes that a punishing training session this week has bullied City out of the habit of leaking early goals.

Lapses in the opening stages of all three games have marred an otherwise very encouraging start for Todd's new-look side.

City roared back to beat Bristol City and Gillingham and were unlucky to finish empty-handed against Nottingham Forest. But Todd is determined to stamp out the trend of falling behind and ensure there is no repeat at Crewe.

That was why he decided to put the players through the mill on Tuesday to underline the importance of working hard when the opposition have the ball - the "ugly side" of the game.

Todd said: "We had a very hard session and one or two people got frustrated. They had to track runners and work the other way to win the ball back and they didn't like doing it.

"That's the part of football we have to do better collectively so that hopefully we can keep a clean sheet."

Crewe have not found it easy since dropping from the Championship. They are yet to win in three attempts and have already blown a lead five times.

Todd wants City to capitalise on any home uncertainty and maintain the head of steam built up by their back-to-back Valley Parade wins. And he expects the midfield to repeat the full-throttle effort from the second half against the Gills.

Todd added: "The most important thing is that we go away from home and have the same consistency we've shown here. I want my players, especially certain ones along the middle line, to play with that freedom and appetite and show that drive.

"The platform is there. We've got the talent and ability but we must make sure that we don't disappoint ourselves.

"The dressing room is tremendous at the moment and the place is buzzing. We want to keep that going."