ARTELL LOOKING TO FRESHEN UP CREWE AFTER MIDWEEK LOSS
CREWE Alex manager Dave Artell is mulling over changes for tomorrow’s League One trip to Doncaster Rovers.
Artell watched his side fall below their usual standards in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at high-flying Sunderland.
And he has conceded that the fixture might have been one too far for some of his players as they adapt to life at the higher level.
He told the club’s website: “It may have been a game too many for some of them in the end. Sunderland had a lot of the possession and we made things hard for ourselves, especially in the first half.
“It was the same against Blackpool and with us unable to get those successive training days in, it made it even tougher.
“That is not a criticism of them because our players have been excellent for us.
“I will put my arm around them, as much as I can with the Covid restrictions, we will rest and recover and look forward to Doncaster on Saturday.”
One of the players Artell could look to reinstate in to his starting line-up at the Keepmoat Stadium is midfielder Callum Ainley.
He was among the substitutes at the Stadium of Light in midweek, but emerged to have an impact on proceedings.
Crewe’s attacking threat increased once Ainley had been introduced.
Artell added: “The first thing is that Callum was unfortunate to miss out on a starting place.
“In the end we went with a more natural midfielder in Oli Finney and
Callum was unfortunate to be the one that missed out.
“He came on and carried on where he left off against Wigan. He didn’t do his chances any harm with his performance.
“I thought he was bright, creative and looked the most likely player to cause them problems with his positioning and passing.
“You never know in football, we could have nicked one and come away with an unlikely point and that looked more likely with Callum on the pitch.”
Crewe travel to face a Doncaster team who are on a high following their 4-1 victory over Ipswich on Tuesday.
Boss Darren Moore says the outcome was the result of some meticulous planning ahead of their meeting with Paul Lambert’s Tractor Boys.
He told the Doncaster website: “We had to match their work rate and endeavour while also being very good in our individual battles across the pitch.
“It’s always nice when you see the players implementing the things in the game that were asked of them beforehand.
“The players got their jobs right and that forced errors from Ipswich which then led to us scoring some good goals.”