David Artell says his Crewe Alexandra side did superbly well to beat the league leaders Lincoln City on Boxing Day, but he is expecting an equally as tough opponent against Stevenage this weekend.

Crewe are aiming for back-to-back home wins after beating the Imps 2-1 with one of the stand-out performances of the season but the Alex boss says his side will have to stand up to Dino Maamria’s side at Gresty Road this weekend.

Ahead of our home game against Stevenage, Artell told us: “We have beaten Stevenage already this season and that was our only away win, so we know what it takes to get a result against them.

“Stevenage will be as equally as tough as Lincoln. Dino will have then at it and they will aim to get in our faces and bully us a bit, but we stood up to that really well against Lincoln in that second half.

“They will aim to stop us playing and make us less effective but we have got to handle that and continue to play our own game and be bright.

“We know what to expect from them and we will be ready for them.”