United travel to Gresty Road on Tuesday night to face another of the division's in-form teams in their rearranged fixture.
The Alex are in confident mood with three straight victories and Saturday's thrilling away draw at Macclesfield under their belts and, sitting nine points outside the play-off places, they'll be looking to mount a late run on the top seven spots with just 15 games left to go.
Brad Walker left Gresty Road to join Shrewsbury for an undisclosed fee earlier in the January transfer window - he has since resumed his loan spell with Wrexham - but defenders Jamie Sterry [Newcastle United] and Aaron Taylor-Sinclair [Motherwell] have been added to the ranks on loan deals to bolster the squad.
Goals have started to flow for the Alex recently and Charlie Kirk (7), Jordan Bowery (7), Chris Porter (7), Callum Ainley (4) and James Jones (4) have notched up 29 strikes between them, demonstrating that net-hitters can be found right across the park.
Set pieces are particularly potent, with Crewe building up a reputation for being dangerous from free kicks and corners.
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Manager’s thoughts ...
Speaking ahead of the midweek game, manager Steven Pressley said: "We’re coming up against a team in Crewe that’s won three of their last four games, and their unbeaten run was continued in a tough game against Macclesfield on Saturday.
"They’ve won five out of their last eight and they’ve beaten, on that journey, four of the top teams.
“Make no mistake, this is a really tough game, but we’ve got to go down there with the mindset that we’re there to put an end to their run whilst, at the same time, doing everything we can to keep ours going.
“That has to be our approach and our goal. It’s a real challenge for us but if we really are serious about what we want to achieve then we have to go there looking to put an end to their run of games.”
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Did You Know?
+ Crewe’s first cup success actually came in the Welsh Cup, which they won in 1936 and 1937 before being banned from the competition.
+ In 1995, the Railwaymen went 56 games without winning away from home, until a 1-0 win at Southport stopped the rot.
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Head to Head
The sides have met regularly over the years – 90 times in total – with United having won 40 of those encounters to Crewe’s 36.
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Crewe wins | |
| League | 36 | 12 | 33 |
| Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| League Cup | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 40 | 14 | 36 |
We were last at Gresty Road in November for a first round FA Cup meeting. The Blues missed a penalty, but won the game in dramatic fashion when keeper Ben Garratt got his bearings wrong as he smashed a poor clearance right at Jamie Devitt in time added on. The shocked stopper could do nothing as the rebound found its way into his bottom corner.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Our first meeting this term was at the end of August, just five games into the current campaign. It was a match of ups and downs for the Blues as they played good football, with Hope and Yates going close early. The down side for the Blues was the loss of Grainger and Fryer to injury, but Ashley Nadesan left everyone smiling when he grabbed the winner and his first goal of the season with 20 minutes left to play.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Last season went the way of the Blues with goals from Danny Grainger [2], Reggie Lambe and Hallam Hope added to by an own goal from former-Carlisle centre back Michael Raynes, which combined to give United a comfortable 5-0 away victory back in September.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The home game in January was a much closer affair, with a late strike from Sam Cosgrove the difference between the sides.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
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Man in the middle
Our referee for this game is Mr Paul Marsden. Mr Marsden has been in charge of 25 games so far this season, showing 70 yellow cards and six reds.
He made the step up to the EFL list this season and this is our first fixture with him as our man in the middle.
Referee – Paul Marsden
Assistant Referee 1 – Ian Smedley
Assistant Referee 2 – Danny Gratton
Fourth Official – Hristo Karaivanov
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Ticket information
Click HERE for full ticket information.
Click HERE to purchase your tickets online.
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