David Artell says he is not surprised that Keith Curle has got Northampton Town being ultra-competitive again. Artell played twice under the former Manchester City and England defender as a player when he was with Mansfield Town and Chester City and the Alex boss knows what he expects from his teams better than most.

Crewe will be aiming to bounce back from Tuesday night’s disappointing 3-0 home defeat by Mansfield Town and protect our recent little run away from home. Northampton come into the game on the back of four wins from their last five games.

Ahead of our trip to the Sixfields Stadium, Artell said: “Northampton have been decent for much of the season but they just found it difficult to score. The manager (Dean Austin) ultimately paid the price for that.

“I know Keith well having played for him twice and I know he would have got into them, raised standards and demanded that they stood up and be men on the pitch. I am not surprised that he has gone in there and got a reaction because he is a good manager.

“Keith has a good team and now they are scoring again. They are on a good little run since he has gone in there but so are we.

“It will be a tough game but so was going to Stevenage and Yeovil on a Tuesday night, so if we apply ourselves again and be more clinical then there is no reason why we cannot get a result.

“The team is unbeaten in two away games and we have to try and keep that going.”