David Artell was pleased with the way his side defended against Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday evening and he wants us to replicate that resilience in Newport this weekend. Crewe will once again be aiming to secure back-to-back wins for the first time since August and Artell is confident that if we can repeat the level of performance we showed in our 3-1 win on Tuesday, then there is no reason why we can’t.

Ahead of this weekend’s fixture in South Wales, Artell said: “Overall it was a terrific performance from us on Tuesday night. We were terrific in the first half and we were outstanding in our defending when we needed to be.

“Forest Green had been on a decent run. They keep the ball well and make things difficult for you. Mark Cooper is a good manager and I really like his philosophy.

“We had to work hard for the win and we could have won by more. I was pleased that we were able to restrict their chances on our goal. We limited them to shooting outside the box really. I know they hit the bar late on from inside the box but mostly Ben had to collect shots from long range.

“We were superior in that first half and if we had gone in at 3-0, I don’t think that would flattered us. Mark changed his shape two or three times in that first half to try and stop us and that is a compliment in its self.

He added: “I was pleased that although we only scored the one goal in that first half, we kept it going in the second half and got our rewards with another two goals.”