Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell that preparing for a Sunday game at Blackburn Rovers makes no difference to his planning. The Alex kick off at an unfamiliar time of 2pm at Ewood Park, but Artell says that having no mid-week game is more beneficial to the recovery of his players following fixtures against Forest Green Rovers, Morecambe and Luton Town in a short space of time.

Ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Rovers, Artell said: “It doesn’t really make a difference to our preparation. Not having a mid-week game has helped the players get the necessary rest in after having three games in eight days. It was important that they had a breather and got some rest in.

“We have allowed them to have their recovery days and now we are building up for Sunday. They will be in for training on Saturday, so that will be a bit different but it will be similar to the way we prepare for games.

“We took the opportunity to watch them play Blackpool on Tuesday night and we have our reports on them. I’m sure Tony will look to rest one or two maybe but they will be a strong opponent regardless of who starts.

“We do our bits and bobs on them and focus on what we want to try and do. It is a game to look forward to and we want to get through to the third round.”