JOHN Sheridan again underplayed Laticsé promotion prospects after Chris Porterés 13th goal of the season saw them climb to fourth spot in League One.

"Weére fourth in the league but we have not won anything yet", he insisted afterwards.

"I just keep telling the lads to be confident, keep expressing and enjoying themselves and weéll see what happens.

"Our first-half performance was as good as weéve played; the tempo and passing was great.

"In the second half, we took our foot off the pedal a bit and let them back into it, but Crewe, who are a good side, only created one chance and Les (Pogliacomi) made a great save."

This was a game almost unrecognisable from a pre-match script that had promised chances aplenty from two purist sides.

A tepid first half saw unchanged Latics dominate possession but labour to create clear-cut opportunities.

With Chris Taylor again a leading threat, they mustered speculative efforts from Will Haining and Gary McDonald and gradually upped the pressure before taking a deserved lead in first-half stoppage time.

Flawless Sean Gregan threaded the ball through the middle for Porter to clinically smash a left-footed shot beyond keeper Stuart Tomlinson from 15 yards to register his fifth goal in four games.

It was a similar story after the restart as an increasingly desperate Crewe, this divisionés leading scorers, timidly sought to break through a rock solid defence now boasting four consecutive clean sheets.

Dangerman Luke Varney failed to punish a rare Haining slip and é despite introducing two substitute strikers é Pogliacomiés fine one-handed stop to deny Michael Higdon on 80 minutes was his only save of the night.

At the other end Richie Wellens tested Tomlinsonés reflexes with a late 35-yard scorcher and, despite five minutes of added time, Sheridanés men cruised to their sixth consecutive victory with few flutters.

  • SEAN Gregan is open-minded about extending his stay at Boundary Park once his loan deal runs out next month.

The centre-half has made a big impact at the heart of the defence since arriving from Leeds last month.

He said: "I donét know what the situation is at Leeds come January 1. Iém not dismissing it (a move), ités up in the air, so Iém just going day by day."