Millwall 2 Crewe 2

The winner will earn a road trip to face Premier League opposition later this month.

League One strugglers Crewe frustrated Millwall with a 0-0 draw at The Den last month, and they once again pegged back the promotion-chasers at their own ground.

The Railwaymen even edged in front against the run of play on 12 minutes. Keeper David Forde was left in no-man's land as he came to collect a long, looping free kick, and Dennis Lawrence was allowed to nod the ball home.

Millwall continued to boast the Lion's share of possession, however, and hauled themselves level on 40 minutes through Marc Laird. The midfielder slammed a shot on goal following a pass by Lewis Grabban, and netted the rebound after it was blocked on the line by Crewe's Jamie Bailey.

The home crowd were celebrating a second before the half-time whistle after a goalkeeping foul-up by Crewe's Stuart Tomlinson. Andy Frampton got his head on a whipped free-kick by Scott Barron from the left, but Tomlinson got an unwanted assist as he let the ball slip through his fingers.

Crewe didn't have much of the ball at this point, but they made use of it when they got hold of it in the 58th minute. The away side broke from a Millwall corner, and won a free kick on the edge of the area. Shelley smashed home from 20 yards to restore parity.

Millwall once again created chances to win the tie on the first attempt, but were unable to claim an all-important third. A trip to a Premier League ground could be a handy earner for the East Londoners, but if they underestimate the challenge ahead next week, they could just as easily be watching the competition unfold from the sidelines.

Manager Kenny Jackett was left frustrated by the "poor decisions" which resulted in Crewe's two goals.

He said: "I was obviously disappointed with the goals. Their second goal was a break from our corner when they've got nobody up and we've made some mistakes and poor decisions.

"The set-up of our wall and the set-up of our defending from the free-kick looked poor to me. He had half the goal to smash the ball into.

"If somebody gets the ball up or down over the wall or puts it right into the top corner, sometimes you've got to put your hands up. All in all, I thought it was a poor goal which let them back into the game."

Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Barron, Fuseini, Robinson, Frampton, Laird, Bolder (Moore 70), Kandol (Harris 70), Alexander, Grabban

Subs Not Used: Pidgeley, Brkovic, Grimes, Forbes, O'Connor

Booked: Frampton, Laird, Kandol, Fuseini

Goals: Laird 40, Frampton 45

Crewe: Tomlinson, O'Donnell, Brayford, Lawrence, Carrington, Shelley (Zola 78), Daniel, Bailey, Murphy, Donaldson, Miller

Subs Not Used: Collis, Grant, Pope, Rix, Thompson

Booked: Brayford, Donaldson

Goals: Lawrence 12, Shelley 58

Att: 5,754