After playing Rotherham twice already, David Artell says their style won't change too much but it is difficult to halt their relentless crosses into the opposition box.

David Artell appreciates the strength in depth his former club, Rotherham United, have at their disposal.

The Alex boss was pleased that his side stuck in the game at the New York Stadium to earn a point in September, but he admits that the introduction of high-quality substitutions changed the game in the Millers favour when the two sides met again the EFL Trophy. Rotherham introduced a plethora of attacking flair to finally win the tie 4-2 in the later stages at the Mornflake Stadium.

Ahead of our meeting this weekend, the Crewe boss told us: “In the Papa John’s Trophy they introduced some of their big hitters to win the game. We put a couple of scholars on to add to the ones we already had on the pitch. That was the difference in the end.

For us, we wanted to win and get through but we had another purpose to it as well. I believe it was the right thing to do.

“As I said afterwards, that competition served us well this season. It gave us the opportunity to introduce some of our younger players and for some it was their first taste of first team football.  

“The league will be different. They made 9 changes in the Papa John’s and I think we made 6 or 7. We expect it to be a different line-up from Rotherham but with a similar style.

He added: “We know it will be a tough game against one of the better sides in the league but we have to go about our business and try and expose their weaker points. They will bring a good following in that away end and I’m looking forward to it. It is another important game for us.”