David Artell says that Crewe Alexandra have been dealt some severe blows in cup competitions this season and he is hoping we can get the rub of the green this evening when we take on Shrewsbury Town in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Crewe need to win in 90 minutes to leapfrog the Shrews in the group standings and progress to the knockout stages of a competition that we won back in 2013.

Shrewsbury parted company with their manager, John Askey, only yesterday and Coach Danny Coyne will be in caretaker control this evening.

Ahead of tonight’s fixture at Gresty Road, Dave told crewealex.net: “We have not progressed in the cup competitions this season but we have not had the rub of the green in both the League Cup or the FA Cup.

“We lost on penalties to Fleetwood in the League Cup and as we all know that is a lottery. We played well in the game and held a League One side to a draw. The performance was good.

“It was the same on Saturday, we played well enough to have won the game but we didn’t take out chances when we were on top and then conceded a bizarre goal in the final minute through our own mistakes. It was hard to take because we didn’t deserve that.

“Those two games are the past now and there is nothing we can do about it now. We have to look forward and the Shrewsbury game is another big game. We want to get through the group and progress in the competition. It is worth a few bob as well, so we cannot afford to have a hangover from Saturday.

The boss concluded: “We know what we have to do in 90 minutes against a side that play in the league above.”