Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell says that Tuesday night’s encouraging performance against Everton Under-21s will shape his thinking ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup first round tie at Accrington Stanley.

Crewe were held to a 2-2 draw by the Everton youngsters at Gresty Road but Artell felt that we had produced enough to have won the tie in the 90 minutes instead of relying on a penalty shoot-out. The draw and extra bonus point was not enough to see Crewe progress in the EFL Trophy.

Artell told the club’s official website: “I thought we had done enough to win the game on Tuesday and it was the best we have played against a Premier League Under-23 side in this competition.

“The boys played well and deserved to win but we didn’t and the only think that was disappointing on the night is that we didn’t progress to the knockout stages. I would have liked to have progressed.

“The way Everton set-up allowed us to have possession and we did something different with our formation. It worked well and we managed to control large parts of the game.

“The work rate and effort was there and we managed to score some goals, which we hadn’t been able to do in the last two games.

“There were some good performances and those who did well on Tuesday night, will be involved tomorrow.”