Crewe Alexandra boss Dave Artell would love to see his former club Mansfield Town promoted

Former Mansfield Town defender Dave Artell admits he would love to see his old club promoted this season.
Dave ArtellDave Artell
Dave Artell

But, as manager of Saturday’s visitors Crewe Alexandra, he is hoping to make Stags wait until after the weekend for the crucial points they need.

Crewe thrashed Crawley 6-1 last weekend and of their last six away games, have won one – at MK Dons – drawn four and only lost once to sit 14th.

Artell is looking forward to his return to the One Call Stadium, saying: “It’s be a good atmosphere, they get behind the team, they cheer every time it goes into the box and when it is close to the goal.

“I used to love shutting crowds up and proving people wrong.

“There’s no better feeling than going to your own fans who have followed in their numbers and clapping them knowing you have done a terrific job, got three points and sent thousands of home fans home unhappy.

“I want to go there and win. But would I be disappointed if they went up? No, I think it is a good club.

“They have good people, the fans are passionate and it’s a big fan base.

“The groundsman is the same, I was chatting to the assistant groundsman last night for 15 minutes, they have good people.

“They are set up to get promoted, but hopefully any run they go on will start after Saturday.”

Artell has been delighted with Crewe’s form on the road, adding: “We haven’t lost many away from home recently, but we have to be more ruthless.

“We have to go to Mansfield and be as ruthless as we were last Saturday.

“We are harder to beat. I watched Mansfield against Lincoln, it wasn’t a good game. But it was two sides who are hard to beat, that’s why they are up near the top.

“It’s not really flare or skill – every now and again you see something – but first and foremost they are hard to beat home or away. We’ve shown we can do that and it has to continue.

“Benning’s delivery, Jorge Grant’s delivery, McDonald when he came on, they work on it you can see that. We have to make sure we don’t give silly free kicks or corners away so they don’t have that opportunity.

“They have got pace in the team with Tyler Walker and CJ Hamilton, they have skill in Jorge Grant, and they are competitive.

“They are third in the league for a reason, but we have been to Mansfield in the last couple of years and scored plenty of goals and moved the ball well, and we have to do the same again.”