INJURIES FORCE ARTELL TO ADD STRIKERS
DAVID Artell found himself short of options up front, so the Crewe manager is thrilled to have brought in Shaun Miller to fill that gap.
The Alex will be without Chris Dagnall and Chris Porter for an extended period but have responded by bringing in Miller from Carlisle.
The 30-year-old striker started his career at Crewe and returns to Gresty Road on loan, joining fellow striker Harry McKirdy, who is on loan from Aston Villa.
Artell said: “We felt that, with the injuries we have to Daggers and Chris Porter, we needed a couple of forwards. We assessed things and felt we could do with a couple that were a bit different.
“Harry and Shaun are different to what we have.
“They make those runs in behind and will stretch teams. Daggers does that but he is still different in many ways, too.
“I wanted as much variety as we could get and, as a manager, you try to get as much quality as you can for your money.
“I think, within the market we operate in, we have recruited well. I think we have added quality.”
Dagnall has a knee problem, which will keep him out for about a month, while Porter’s ankle problem will keep him out even longer.
Artell added: “Chris (Dagnall) will have some swelling drained from his knee. He is expected to be out for three to five weeks.
“Chris (Porter) has suffered a recurrence of his ankle injury.
“He has been struggling with it for a couple of weeks and we thought an injection would help, but there is some discomfort there.
“It is bone-on-bone and he will have an operation to clean his ankle out.
“We are expecting him to be out for around six weeks.”