David Artell believes that our FA Cup opponents Eastleigh could more than hold their own in League Two. The Alex meet the Spitfires in the FA Cup second round with Championship side Barnsley awaiting the winners in the New Year and Artell wants his team to finish the job off with home advantage.

The original tie ended 1-1 at the Silverlake Stadium and Artell believes that earning that replay puts us in a stronger position in front of our own supporters’ tomorrow night.

The Crewe boss expects another tough cup tie though. He said: “Eastleigh are a good side. We said that before the first game and anyone who went down there to watch it or saw it on TV would say the same, especially in those last 20 minutes.

“Now, we could have done better and we were not pleased with some aspects of our own performance in the second half but we knew it would be tough and they would throw everything they could at us.

“Now we have a second chance to put things right. We are at home in front of our own supporters and we have to be confident of progressing.

“They come into the game on back of two defeats at home to Wrexham and Ebbsfleet but that counts for little.

“They will raise their game again for the FA Cup. They did in the first game and they will do it again. They are a good team with experienced players and I would think they would hold their own in League Two. If they are higher than that then I’m not sure but I don’t think they would struggle in our division.

The boss added: “They have a decent budget. Bigger than ours and it will be another tough game. If we play to our levels it doesn’t matter if they are a league higher or league below we can give anyone a game.”