David Artell says his Crewe Alexandra side showed all the attributes he wanted to see in the second half against Rotherham United.

The Alex boss admits that he expressed his opinion at half-time on Saturday and he got the perfect response from his players as they fought back from a goal down to win the game.

Goals from Brad Walker and Callum Ainley secured our place in the Second Round draw and Artell says that his side proved a few people wrong on Saturday.

The Alex boss told crewealex.net: “I’m sure there were quite a few people not giving us much of a chance two minutes after the draw was made. Rotherham are a league higher and it wasn’t so long ago that they were in the Championship.

"I would imagine there were a few more doubting that we could do it at half-time when we were 1-0 down and not playing particularly well, but we all beleived we could do it. The players believed and that was the most important thing.

“But we hung in there and the players deserve a lot of credit for the way they played in the second half. We settled down and Brad’s goal coming inside the first two minutes of the restart certainly helped.

“They kept going and showed that aggressive mindset that we have been after from them. When I talk about that aggression, it isn’t about tackling, smashing into players. It is about getting on the front foot and winning those personal battles. It is about running in behind and trying to make things happen in the final third. It is about getting up against your man when they have the ball.

He added: “When we have that mentality and our mindset is right, we are a match for anyone.”