Boss Morris says Crewe will face 'step up in quality' against Cobblers

Crewe Alexandra manager Alex Morris believes this weekend’s League Two fixture with Northampton represents a ‘step up in quality’ for his side.

Relegated from League One last season, Crewe have made an excellent start to the campaign under Morris, who replaced David Artell in April, with three wins from their opening four league games. Their only defeat came against Salford in a game in which they had a man sent off in the first-half.

But Morris believes his side face their toughest test yet on Saturday, saying: "Northampton will be right up there again this season. Jon Brady has done a great job.

"We have watched some clips of them and and they can play into runners with a lot of through balls – they are the best in the league at that. They can also play some nice build up work as well which gets them up the pitch and into the final third before they then look to play those balls into the front three.

"There are different ways in which they can hurt you so a lot of planning will go into the game to ensure we are ready because that really will be a step up in quality compared to some of the fixtures we have faced so far. We need to be ready and face the challenge head on.”

Striker Chris Long will miss tomorrow’s fixture but fellow ex-Cobbler Rod McDonald could return to face his former club as Crewe look to make it three home wins in a row to start the season.

"Our currency at home has to be wins and clean sheets,” added Morris. “I think that’s the case for everybody because home form dictates how strong your season will be and then you have to chip away at those away wins which are like gold dust. We have already won our two home games and if we can start with a third win on the spin, everybody will be happy.”