Assistant Manager Kenny Lunt insists the Crewe Alex squad will be ready for a 'battle' against Lincoln City this weekend.

The Imps come to town after an impressive start to the campaign that sees them sit ninth in the Sky Bet League Two table.

After doing their homework, Lunt & Dave Artell know that City will be bringing their direct football to Gresty Road, & they've challenged the Alex squad to deal with the fight.

Kenny said: "It's going to be a tough fixture.

"But you've heard people say many times, there's nothing in the league from the top of the table to the bottom, it's all very close.

"There's going to be nothing in the game again. We think we need to stand up to them because they'll be a lot of balls coming into our box & a lot of set pieces, long throws as part of some direct football.

"We've shown we can stand up to that type of football this year - at times. At other times we haven't, so we'll go through with them today how we're going to turn up, how we're going to prepare & are we really going to put our bodies on the line & do we really want to win the game.

"My initial thoughts would be 'yes' because I haven't questioned the attitude of the players, they've been first class. It's not due to the lack of effort, sometimes its just those fine margins & it's why we're in the second division. But the lads will be ready for the game."