Bournemouth went 1-0 and then 2-1 down to Crewe, before they came back to win 3-2 thanks to late goals from Eugene Nyarko and Jonny Day.
But the two goals from the visitors came at the start of each half, as the hosts at Dean Court struggled to get out of the traps quickly.
Read more:
Reflecting on the game, Connell told the Daily Echo: “It was a decent performance in spells.
“I think we started slowly, obviously, and then that wasn't helped by the poor goal we conceded. But the sort of last half hour of the first half, I thought we took control, created some good openings.
“It wasn't perfect, but I didn't expect it after the disappointment of Friday [when they lost 5-4 in the Premier League Cup quarterfinals to West Brom].
(Image: Robin Jones/AFC Bournemouth)
“At halftime, I wanted us to come out and really establish ourselves in that second half and didn't quite get going in the second half, got punished to go 2-1 down.
“With 15-20 minutes to go, I still thought the game was there for us.
“But at that point, the question was, could we execute a couple of big moments to win the game? And of course, we did that through Zac Christie's cross to Eugene for a brilliant header, and then Eugene putting Jonny Day in on goal to score the winner.
“So yeah, really pleasing end to the game and a pleasing spell in the middle of it, but we were a bit too patchy and lacked a little bit of quality and energy, which meant it wasn't nowhere near our best performance.”
Connell said the players know they can be better, but they also know that the results are the important thing at this stage of the season, and the ability to get over the line will be key in years to come.
The boss was also pleased with how his team bounced back from the West Brom defeat.
“I think there was a big disappointment Friday to go out of the Premier League Cup the way we did,” he said.
(Image: Robin Jones/AFC Bournemouth)
“It's been a tough week. We've been in every day. We've had to recover at the training ground and make use of everything there to make sure we're ready to give our best on the pitch because our game model is physically demanding.
“So we have to make sure that our preparation is right.
“To go down early, I think it was definitely a setback. Goals change games. We saw it on Friday night. Where you have that psychological setback if you concede, you score a goal, you get a lift.
“That's happened in the first half here through Michael's goal. So yeah, goals do change games and like I say, tough one Friday to take, but the response was there today.
“We've got to use this now. That's three league wins in a row. So let's keep trying to build on that and learn as we go and have a really strong end to the season.”