Tuesday night’s goalscorer, Ryan Wintle, was disappointed to have exited the League Cup at the first round stage but the all-round midfielder believes there were plenty of positives to take from the team’s showing against League One side Fleetwood Town.

Wintle’s well taken first half goal had given Crewe the advantage but Joey Barton’s side soon hit back at the beginning of the second half after the half-time introduction of Jason Holt saw him drive a shot past Dave Richards for an equaliser.

With neither side capable of finding a winning goal in the 90 minutes, the tie was decided on a penalty shoot-out and with James Jones and Perry Ng both missing for Crewe, it was Fleetwood progressing to the second round for the first time in their history.

Wintle though says that matching a League One outfit over 90 minutes has only provided a welcome boost ahead of Saturday’s clash with MK Dons.

Ryan told iFollow the Alex: “I thought we did well against a good League One. They had their spells and their chances like they are going to have but we had ours as well and I thought we more than matched them really.

“I think it is fair to say that you wouldn’t have known that one team was from a higher league and that is why we were disappointed to have lost it on a penalty shoot-out.

“If we can play like that from now until the end of the season then I think we will be fine. We have shown that we can play against higher opposition and compete, so there is no reason why we cannot do that every week in League Two.

“MK Dons have just come down from League One, so we know they will be a good side. They are expected to win promotion, so it will be a good test for us.

Ryan added: “If we can play as well as we did at times against Fleetwood then there is no reason why we cannot get the three points. That’s the plan.”