David Artell says that the first derby game of the season will not throw up any new surprises. The Alex boss appreciates what the bragging rights means to the supporters, but he is solely focussed on obtaining another three points from our trip to Vale Park.

The Alex boss told crewealex.net: “The derby game is more for the fans than anyone else. I’ve played in the games, a lot of the players have and it is different because of what it means for the supporters but there will be nothing new from a playing point of view.

“We want to give our fans the bragging rights on Monday morning by winning the game. We will be going there looking for the three points. Not one. All three. That is the way we will approach every game this season.

“There are another three points up for grabs on Saturday and that is what we want. I think the fans who have watched us this season will be content with what they have seen. We didn’t win the first two games but the fans would have been pleased to have seen the effort of the players.

“We probably shaded it against Mansfield and could have won it and we then showed our different side by grinding out a result against Newport when we had 10 men for 75 minutes.

“The performance wasn’t as good against Barnet but then the fans were content with the result. We got the win, so although the performance wasn’t as good, the fans are happy because we have won.”