The last time, Crewe Alexandra were beaten by four goals to one before the Portsmouth defeat at the weekend, was away at Northampton Town almost a year ago to the day.

The Railwaymen responded magnificently following that defeat against the Cobblers, to remain unbeaten in six matches in all competitions.

The Crewe boss says that is the challenge now facing his side again as they aim to bounce back at Accrington this evening.

Ahead of our trip to the Wham Stadium, Artell told crewealex.net: “When we lost to Northampton, we came back strongly and went six unbeaten. That is the challenge now facing us, can we go and do something similar again?

“I might tell them that and hopefully we can go and have a similar reaction and go on another unbeaten run. We have a couple of cup games coming up as well, so that may influence things, but our aim is always try to improve and built some momentum.

“The aim is to get back on the horse at Accrington and to play as well as we have been doing but with less mistakes. The first thing we will need to do is be at it and work harder than Accrington because they always put a shift in under John Coleman – his sides always do.”