Artell doesn't believe Cobblers' playing style has changed under Brady

Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell does not believe Cobblers playing style has changed too much - 'if at all' - since Jon Brady took charge.

The Alex head down to the PTS on Saturday hoping to complete the double over Northampton this season following their dramatic stoppage-time victory in December.

That fixture at Gresty Road was an extreme example of the often defensive approach Town took under previous manager Keith Curle. The visitors had just 25 per cent possession and managed only six shots compared to Crewe's 24.

Most would argue that Cobblers are more attacking and less direct with Brady now in charge, as reflected by the statistics, although Artell isn't so sure.

"I wouldn't say their style has changed that much," he said. "If there was a spectrum of football styles, they are certainly towards one end and that's perfectly fine.

"You can't change that style dramatically in one transfer window but they did have a fairly hefty turnover in players in the January transfer window.

"But the style hasn't changed that much, if at all, which is something for Northampton to decide. I don't want anyone to think I'm being critical, it's just an observation, and we've got to combat whatever Northampton will throw at us, that's the key.

"We think we know what that will be but it might be something different and whatever it is, we've got to have the answers and we've got to show more resilience and more fight than what we did last weekend."

Artell was deeply unhappy with his players after their performance in losing 3-0 at home to Burton Albion on Saturday.

"That was awful and unacceptable from one of my teams," he said. "I thought there were a few of them who were too comfortable in the first-half and questioned their desire and work ethic to really go and win the game.

"Sometimes you have to be blunt in that and they needed to be told. We will go through the game again, give them the pointers and try and help them.

“We had 73 per cent of the possession in the first half and were 3-0 down, so that tells a story. There was a lot wrong with Saturday on a lot of levels and we have to learn from it.”