David Artell believes that his Crewe Alexandra have earned the respect of opponents in Sky Bet League Two this season. Artell takes his side to the current leaders Exeter this weekend and the Crewe boss says it will be a great marker to see where his team stands.

The Alex will be aiming to become the first club this season to defeat Paul Tisdale’s in-form team and Artell believes that if each individual wins their personal battles then they could upset the bookies odds.

Artell told crewealex.net: “Exeter have made a great start to the season and we respect them. We do not fear them and I’m sure they will see us as a dangerous opponent as well because we have got excellent players. There will be a mutual respect there.

“It will all depend on who performs best on the day. If our players can get the best of their direct opponents then we have a great chance of winning the game.

“We are certainly in a better place than we were when we went there last season. We were finding our feet and they were flying. We had a lot of decisions go against us but we would have still lost the game.

“It is a different day, a different set of players and if we are bang on it then we can get the result we want.”