Back to the beautiful game tomorrow for Mansfield Town after brutal clash at Northampton Town

“I don't think it would have been a nice game to watch at Northampton,” he said. “It wasn't the prettiest to play in either.

“It was more like a game of rugby. I came in at half-time and didn't feel like I'd played a half of football as the ball was out of play that many times.

“It will be chalk and cheese this Saturday compared with that as Crewe are probably the best footballing side in the division – them and Plymouth.

“We knew what Crewe are about. They have got some really good players so it will be a different kind of test for us.

“Last Saturday was one extreme and probably this Saturday will be another extreme. I don't mind a mixture of both.”

Riley has had first hand experience of playing and beating Crewe while at Plymouth on the opening day of the season.

“It will be good to come up against a really good footballing side in Crewe,” he said.

“We played them once at Plymouth at the start of the season and managed to beat them. But we came off the pitch thinking 'wow, they've got some really good players – some really talented players that will probably go on and play higher'.

“We won 3-0 but they had chances and probably more possession than us which says a lot about them. But, on the day, we scored three good goals and it was a great win.

“They all take the ball in tight areas and they are all comfortable on the ball which I think you've got to be when you come through Crewe's academy. That's the kind of test we'll be coming up against.”

He added: “We've said it before in the dressing room, whenever we've come up against top sides in the division we've always seemed to match them.

“I've seen that first hand before I was here when I was playing for Plymouth. I honestly thought I'd never seen a Mansfield team come to Home Park and play like that.

“We are going into it full of confidence, which is a good sign.”