Steve Davis says Sunday's Final is totally different to play-off final

Crewe Alexandra manager Steve Davis says that our play-off victory over Southend United almost 12 months ago will be irrelevant ahead of this weekend’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final. Crewe narrowly made it through to the npower League Two Final over two-legs, winning 3-2 on aggregate but Steve says that two different teams will be lining up in London on Sunday.

The Crewe boss will now be leading his side out at the National Stadium alongside Southend’s new manager Phil Brown after his predecessor Paul Sturrock elected not to return for a one-off game after the Shrimpers elected for a change.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “Southend are a different team with a different manager from last season’s play-offs. We are different as well, with five new players and more coming in on loan.

“I think we are a tighter unit than last season, without having that individual brilliance that a Nick (Powell) can bring you.

“It is ironic that we are facing Southend in the final, after what happened in the play-offs last season. They have players there who were involved in those games and I’m sure their supporters haven’t forgotten. They will want a bit of revenge for last season and that just gives an extra edge to the game.

“I am just looking forward to the game and the occasion. I don’t feel any pressure going into the final. We won’t go down if we lose it and there was a lot more pressure in the play-off final.

“I have always tried to keep the pressure off the players and allow them to go out and express themselves as much as possible. If there is too much pressure on them then they can sometimes not perform.

He added: “There was certainly more pressure on the players in the play-offs because there was a promotion riding on the result. That was after 46 games and the whole season rests on it. The players handled that extremely well last May.”