Boss expects to be without striker for the next four weeks

Steve Davis, the Crewe Alexandra manager is hopeful that the ankle injury obtained by his striker AJ Leitch-Smith is not as bad as first feared. Leitch-Smith suffered the injury in the club’s 2-0 defeat to Portsmouth at the weekend after being caught by their captain Brian Howard. The Pompey midfielder was booked for the challenge from behind and Leitch-Smith had to be replaced by Byron Moore.

Davis has been informed that the local-born forward has suffered ankle ligament damage and that he is set to miss the next month.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “AJ has suffered ankle ligament damage but it is probably not as bad as we first feared. He was in a lot of pain on Saturday and there was a fear that there could have been a fracture there, but he has been able to put weight on it today and has driven in for treatment. That is encouraging.

“Although it is not as bad as we feared at the time, it is still a bad injury and we expect him to be out for at least a month.

“He will be determined to get back as soon as he can and get back into the team and score goals. I think he has looked one of our most dangerous forwards, so we will miss him, but his absence will give someone else an opportunity.”