Kenny Lunt says that hosting promotion favourites Mansfield Town on the opening day of the season and then Championship side Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup a few days later; will be an ideal test for Crewe Alexandra.

Lunt believes that Crewe can compete with any EFL side on their day and he points to our early cup performances against Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers last year as a good indicator. Crewe won 2-1 at Bramall Lane and were narrowly beaten 4-3 in extra-time by Rovers at Ewood Park in the second round.

Lunt said of the new 2017/18 fixtures: “The fixtures are always interesting when they come out. The first game at home to Mansfield will be a good one. They are one of the favourites to go up, so that will be a good test for us.

“We then have Bolton in the cup and they been promoted back into the Championship, so we know they are a good side. That will be a massive test but we always believe that if we can perform as well as we can, then we can remain in games and get results.

“That happens in any football game. Anything can happen and when we played like we can and took our chances, then we can get good results, like we did at Portsmouth last season. That wasn’t a fluke, we were the better side on the day.

“What we have found is that every game at this level is a test. We are realistic to know that a lot of our games could have gone either way last season. We know we have to improve the results and that is what we will all be working towards.”