Derby County manager Paul Warne has said that the Rams’ replay against Crewe Alexandra will be ‘tough’.
The original fixture ended in a 2-2 draw at Crewe’s home of The Mornflake Stadium just over a week ago.
Crewe took a surprise 2-0 lead on the day through Courtney Baker-Richardson and Elliott Nevitt, but they could not hold on.
Derby managed to score two late goals, with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing scoring what originally looked to be a consolation in the 89th minute.
But Conor Hourihane scored in the third minute of injury time to rescue Derby from a cup upset and secure a replay at Pride Park.
The Rams will host Bristol Rovers in the second round should they progress.
Warne on ‘tough’ Crewe Alexandra
Speaking to the club website, Warne spoke of how difficult the replay will be.
“They are really well organised and a threat up top, which we knew anyway. They caused us problems at times at their place, although we had a lot of the play. They are coming into this one off the back off a late win against Notts County at the weekend, which is a massive boost for them, and both of sides come into this one in good form. It was a really tight game last time and I know it will be another tough one, which we will look forward to.”
Crewe could prove Derby boss right
Crewe certainly showed Derby in the first fixture that they are full of surprises.
But the Alex had a lot of first team players unavailable at the time, so could come to Derby with a stronger team this time round.
With Warne also having to rotate due a number of injuries, it will be interesting to see how this encounter plays out.