Team News:

Elliott Johnson is out for much of this season following the knee injury he picked up in last weekend’s game. Harry Taylor (face) is doubtful and Richard Brindley (ankle) and John Akinde (knee) are both recovering well.

Last Time We Met:

On the final day of last season, Crewe ran out comfortable 4-1 winners against Barnet.

A Chris Dagnall struck twice in the first half was followed by a thunderbolt from Curtis Weston in the 64th minute. Dagnall bagged is hat trick just three minutes later and turned provider for the final goal of the match, assisting George Cooper’s left footed strike.

Manager:

David Artell was appointed Crewe’s manager earlier in January this year. A no-nonsense centre-half in his playing career, making appearances for the likes of Rotherham, Mansfield, Chester and Morecambe.

Artell made 72 appearances for the side he now manages in-between 2010 and 2012. He captained the side at Wembley in the 2012 League 2 play-off final victory over Cheltenham.

Artell has seven caps for Gibraltar, playing his international debut in their second ever official match, a friendly against the Faroe Islands.

Dangerman:

A product of the Crewe academy, George Cooper is certainly one to keep an eye out for. The winger had a breakthrough season last year, scoring 10 goals last and registering 12 assists in all competitions.

At still only 20 years of age, he has attracted attention from a number of Championship and League 1 clubs.

Last Time Out:

Crewe have made a solid start to the season, with two draws in their opening two league games.

A 1-1 draw against Newport County was the result in their latest match, with County taking the lead in the 12th minute. Five minutes later, it went from bad to worse as Perry Ng was shown a second yellow and dismissed.

Remarkably, Crewe scored an equaliser through Chris Dagnall 60 seconds after the dismissal. Crewe dug in and picked up a well earned point.

Crewe (4-3-3): Garratt; Nolan, Raynes, Ng, Pickering; Walker, Wintle, Lowey; Cooper, Dagnall, Porter.

Ticket info:

Supporters can only purchase tickets on the day, prices and more information here.

Keep up with the game:

Full match commentary from every game is available on iFollow. If you are based outside of the UK & Ireland, you can watch the game live on iFollow.

You can also get live match updates on Twitter throughout the afternoon. We are also on Facebook and will go behind the scenes on our Instagram.