CREWE boss Dave Artell says Rovers were unfortunate with the red card shown to Rekeem Harper but felt Dominic Samuel was lucky to escape suffering the same fate.

Harper was dismissed just after the half hour mark for bringing down Chris Porter, with the situation compounded for Rovers with the midfielder being shown a straight red card.

Artell admits he didn’t see the off the ball incident which led to Elliott Bennett seeing red but felt Rovers striker Samuel, who scored twice, should have been sent off following a clash with Perry Ng.

On the two red cards, he said: “I didn't see the second one, my understanding of the first one is that that double-jeopardy has gone out of the game now so I'm not sure why he's been sent off.

“But Dominic Samuel should have been sent off in the second half and the ref missed it.”

While the red cards were the game’s main talking points, Artell was pleased that his side battled back from 3-0 down to earn a replay.

He felt his side showed Rovers too much respect in the opening 20 minutes, in which they built up a 3-0 lead, but in the end was slightly disappointed the League Two side couldn’t snatch a winner.

“A lot of people say the magic of the cup has gone, but it's not if you are a League One or League Two club. Anyone here has seen an enthralling cup tie which could have been even better for us in the end,” Artell told the Crewe Chronicle.

"I was fed up, annoyed, disappointed. I told the players they (Rovers) would start quickly but we never got within five yards of them in the first 20 minutes. We gave them too much respect, we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

“If you have offered me a replay after 20 minutes I'd have snatched your hand off so I can't be too despondent. But it could have been even better. If I was a betting man, after 20 minutes of the second half, I'd have bet we'd score again, but I'd have lost my money.

“The character and believe the players showed to get back in the game was terrific, and I'm proud we came from three down. It could have been better but we shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.

“It was an opportunity missed but we live to fight another day.”