Swindon have their second game in four days as they travel to Gresty Road to face a Crewe side who have lost their last three matches.

Phil Brown’s side were held at home against Oldham on Saturday, but kept their fourth clean sheet in five games to ensure another point and keep up their recent defensive form.

Town are unbeaten in four away games with impressive displays against Morecambe and Yeovil following draws on the road against Crawley and Forest Green.

Elijah Adebayo is still hunting down Michael Doughty as the club’s top scorer this season with the Fulham loanee on four goals, one behind Doughty. Steven Alzate still trails Oldham’s Dan Gardner in the League Two assist charts.

The Oppo

Crewe have struggled to pick up three points so far this season – but when they have it’s been emphatic.

The Railwaymen have only won twice in the league this season, both coming in the first game of each month so far this season – a record that Town will be looking to break.

Both of those wins have been at home – on the opening day of the campaign, they hit Morecambe for six before comprehensively beating Macclesfield 3-0 at Gresty Road, in their opening match of September.

Last time out, they lost 2-1 to strugglers Notts County with Rob Milsom and Elliott Hewitt grabbing the goals for Harry Kewell’s side – Jordan Bowery notched the goal for the Alex.

They sit 18^th in League Two on eight points – half of Town’s return so far.

Head-to-head

Town have a good record against the Railwaymen – home and away. You’d have to go back to 2012 to find an Alex win, with Byron Moore bagging a brace in similar fashion to the one a fortnight ago at the Energy Check County Ground. Raffaele De Vita scored for the Town that day.

Swindon stuck six past Crewe last season with a lightning-fast opening 20 minutes seeing three goals for the Robins – scored by Kaiyne Woolery, Amine Lingazi, and Luke Norris.

Back in 2013, Ryan Mason scored a hat-trick at SN1 as Town romped to 5-0 win in League One.

23 Aug 2014        Swindon Town v Crewe Alexandra            W            2-0          League One

28 Feb 2015        Crewe Alexandra v Swindon Town            D             0-0          League One

05 Sep 2015        Crewe Alexandra v Swindon Town            W            1-3          League One

16 Jan 2016         Swindon Town v Crewe Alexandra            W            4-3          League One

23 Dec 2017        Crewe Alexandra v Swindon Town            W            0-3          League Two

27 Jan 2018         Swindon Town v Crewe Alexandra            W            4-3          League Two

 The Gaffer

David Artell had a playing career that lasted almost 20 years as a professional – he played for a total of 12 clubs in that time which included Rotherham, Mansfield, Chester, Morecambe, Port Vale and Northampton Town.

He played a total of 72 times for Crewe, also, as a centre-back. Former manager, Jim Bentley described him as ‘committed, aggressive, and brave.’

In  2014, while still playing for Bala Town in non-league football, Artell became Academy Operations Manager at Gresty Road and three years later was appointed first-team manager, replacing Steve Davis. On 5^th May 2018, Artell selected a starting XI who were all Academy graduates.

In summer 2010, the Crewe manager graduated from the University of Chester with a degree in forensic biology, and also has a degree in forensic and analytic science from Sheffield Hallam University. He also runs Open Goal  a tax consultancy for footballers in 2013.

Former manager, Jim Bentley also said about him: “If I ever went on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, David would be my phone-a-friend. He might look thick but don’t be fooled. Education-wise and in terms of football knowledge, he’s probably the cleverest bloke I ever played with.”