ALEX MANAGER MORRIS KEEPING FINGERS CROSSED OVER WILLIAMS DEAL
CREWE manager Alex Morris is very hopeful of agreeing a new deal with highly-rated defender Zac Williams.
The 18-year-old centre-half got great reviews after breaking into the first team this past season and going on to make 20 appearances. But when the club issued their retained list at the end of the season, they were only able to report the youngster had been offered, rather than signed a new deal.
Morris makes no bones about the fact he believes Williams will go on to play at a higher level than League Two but he is optimistic the Wales youth international will be learning his trade with Crewe at that level next season.
The manager said: “We are very hopeful that will be concluded very soon. There is a willingness from both Zac and ourselves to get that concluded sooner rather than later. “There is nothing major holding that up, just one or two bits and pieces that you get in contracts in general because there is a lot that go into contracts these days, it’s not just a case of the length of contract and value.
“Zac is a valuable asset who is going to be an outstanding player both for us and, being brutally honest, will play at a much higher level in the future than where we are currently at.
“We are hopeful for good news on that very soon.”
Williams will miss the start of next season with an ankle injury but Morris has said the youngster will be using the enforced break from pre-season games to develop physically to help him cope with the rigours of a long season. Meanwhile, the Crewe squad began their close season fitness work this week well ahead of the official return to pre season training on June 22.
The players began running at home and, from next week, will also be reporting into the club on Tuesdays and Thursdays while also continuing fitness work at home on a weekend.
The current League Two season doesn’t actually finish until the play-off final on May 28 but Morris and his staff believe the early work will give them the best possible chance in 2022/23.
He said: “They have started some work from home this week. That begins today so, as we speak, players are running around fields local to them in Warrington, Stoke, Chester and wherever else they live.
“They rejoin us back in the building from next week. That will be on a Tuesday and Thursday for a cardiovascular and conditioning programme whereas on a Saturday they will do some hard running to keep their bodies in good condition ready for when we do start the pre season on June 22.
“That is how it will look over the next four or five weeks so they are ready for what is going to be a very difficult pre season when we resume.”
The club are also set to announce full details of their pre-season fixtures – and Morris has revealed that will include home games against Championship sides Rotherham and West Brom.
He added: “We are really pleased with the pre-season programme. On three consecutive Saturdays we have Barnsley away - that will place on their training ground because it is early in pre-season so their pitch won’t be ready - then back at our place at Gresty Road we have West Brom and then the following week we have Rotherham.
“So, two different levels of opposition and they will provide different challenges.
“We are pleased with that and we have some really good non-league teams that we are going to visit as well early on in the pre-season programme to allow the players to get into playing mode again. “So, there is lots of variety there and it will give us lots of different things to work on.”