Steve Davis says team will prepare exactly the same for Eastleigh test

Steve Davis is determined to guide Crewe Alexandra through a tricky first round draw against Eastleigh this weekend. The Alex have a poor FA Cup record of late and have gone out at the first round stage for four of the last five seasons, losing to Sheffield United last season and Wycombe, Colchester and non-league Tamworth before that. We last reached the second round in the 2012/13 season but a single goal from our former striker Calvin Zola saw Burton Albion win at Gresty Road.

Ahead of this weekend’s home game with Eastleigh, Steve told crewealex.net: “It is another important tie for us and we want to progress. We haven’t done well enough in the FA Cup over the last few years and we haven’t made much of an impact since I came here.

“We will go into the Eastleigh game in a positive frame of mind on the back of what we achieved against a strong Sheffield United side at the weekend. That result and performance should give us great confidence.

“It is a game we are all looking forward to. It will be tough because FA Cup games always are because everyone wants to progress as far they can. We know it will be tough but if we can play to our potential like we did on Saturday then we should have a good afternoon.

“We want to hit that level of performance again and not let the tempo drop. The players put in an incredible amount of effort against Sheffield United at the weekend and we will be looking for the same this weekend.

He added: “We have watched Eastleigh and have DVD’s of their games, so we have done our homework on them. We respect them and know they have picked up recently under a new manager.”