Crewe Alexandra Manager Dave Artell has spoken after learning the fixture details for upcoming season this morning.
The boss is pleased to be starting, and finishing, the campaign on home soil & is looking forward to the early season meeting with rivals Port Vale.
Dave told www.crewealex.net: “It is what it is, we have to play every team so we’ve just got to do it in that order. It’s important for planning purposes, but not overly so other than that, everyone looks at certain dates, Christmas, last day, first game.
“Mansfield are first up & it will be interesting to see how we get on against them. With the Newport game having to be rearranged too, we’ve got potentially four home games on the spin including the cup so we best brush up on our home form!
“You do want to start at home, that’s the bottom line. We’re up against the title favourites so it’s a good early chance to gauge ourselves. We’re going to find out a lot about ourselves after the first game, it’s a good one first up & it’ll be good to see where we’re at.
“Everyone looks for the Port Vale games, I’m no different. They’re our local rivals & we’ve got to play them at some point so why not play them fourth game in? Whatever the computer fixture throws up we’ll play them then.
“Finishing at home too is even more important than starting at home. The fact that the fans want to show their appreciation to the team, & the team want to show their appreciation to the fans as well. I’m certainly pleased the last game is at home that’s for sure.”