FURIOUS Kevin Blackwell ripped into his players as Leeds United lost ground on the top three in the promotion race with a 1-0 defeat at lowly Crewe last night.

And the frustrated manager warned that he is looking to strengthen the squad by bringing in a player on loan in the near future.

A dismal performance saw fifth placed Leeds fail to score for only the fifth time in the league this season and they now trail leaders Sheffield United by a massive 15 points.

A seventh minute own goal, which went in off defender Paul Butler, gifted the Railwaymen the points and Blackwell fumed: "I am angry. I have let the players know that won't be tolerated.

"If they think they can have 16, 17 or so good games and then take a day off they are wrong. We got our noses bloodied and Crewe thoroughly deserved the win. You couldn't print what I said to the players at half-time. Sometimes you do have a bad day at the office but I am not prepared to put up with that.

"It wasn't good enough for me, it shouldn't be good enough for them and they will know about it. If they weren't good enough we wouldn't be where we are in fifth place in the table. They are good enough but they have to show it."

Ian Moore was brought in for his first league start in place of Frazer Richardson on the right flank and David Healy replaced Robbie Blake up front but it didn't work and both men were substituted.

Blackwell also took off left-back Dan Harding, replacing him with Danny Pugh ten minutes from the end, and Pugh twice went close to snatching what would have been an undeserved equaliser.

Now Blackwell must conjure up a rapid improvement for Saturday's home game against Preston, who defeated Hull City 3-0 last night.

Biggest problem is a shortage of goals, with just 19 scored in 17 league games, and Blackwell desperately needs more creativity in midfield to provide the right service for his experienced strikers.

Updated: 11:31 Wednesday, November 02, 2005