SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner joked he was probably the only manager in the country that wanted an away tie after his team was drawn to play Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road in the first round of the FA Cup.

Town's fixture against the League One strugglers was picked out of the hat on Sunday lunchtime by former England women’s forward Kelly Smith and Leicester City’s cup-winning captain Wes Morgan.

While Town have made an impressive start to the League Two season under Garner, Crewe have won just one of their first 12 games in the third tier and were beaten 3-0 at Fleetwood Town on Saturday.

Reacting to the draw in Monday’s pre-match press conference ahead of Swindon’s trip to Sutton United in League Two, Garner said: “It’s on the day, whichever team performs will win the game.

“We’ll be going there full of confidence, away to a League One team trying to win the game.

“I was probably the only manager in the country who wanted an away draw at the moment.

“But in all seriousness, I’m sure it will be a good game, but we’ll focus on that game when we get to that point.”

With Town hoping for an extended FA Cup run for the first time in over 10 years, Garner said the attention must remain on the three league games that come before in order not to derail what has been a promising start to the club’s main focus.

Garner said: “I never read too much into a draw - it is what is is.

“I think it’s a good game, it’s away against League One opposition, so fantastic. But we won’t be paying any attention to that game until we get to that point.

“We’ve got three important league games coming before that. We’ll be fully focused on them, and once they’re out of the way and we’ve got some more points on the board, then we’ll turn our focus to the game at Crewe.”

The date of Town's trip to Crewe has not yet been confirmed but will take place between Friday, November 5 and Monday, November 8.