Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell has described Aston Villa counterpart Dean Smith as an "inspiration".

The two clubs will face off in the Carabao Cup second round on Tuesday night.

He told CheshireLive: "I think he's done a terrific job. The likes of Dean Smith and Sean Dyche, even Nathan Jones to a certain extent – starting at Brighton in their academy, he goes to Luton and does well, I know he's having a tough time down the road, but those kind of managers are inspirational.

"I look at them personally and I think if they can do it, there's nothing to stop myself and Kenny [Lunt, assistant manager] taking this club further and higher and all having good careers.

"I've met him a couple of times and he's a thoroughly nice fella. I'm glad to see him doing well and having a shot at the Premier League – I just hope he doesn't do well tomorrow.

"It's going to be a good night and a good test. We've had that experience of a Premier League team already this season, albeit in a pre-season friendly (against Burnley) , but it's going to be a good night for the football club and it's going to be a good test for us.

"There should be a good crowd, I don't know what's expected, but there should be and we're hopeful of a good result.

"They're a good well organised team, We obviously saw them on Friday night and they've got a good British manager in Dean Smith who knows the value of the competition, so we're expecting a tough night but then we expected a tough night at Middlesbrough – we all know how that materialised.

"We're going into it knowing we can give a good account of ourselves and we'll make it as hard as we possibly can for Villa."