Steve says Academy progression will continue with him in charge

Steve Davis says he will continue to give his young players’ a chance to stake their claim in his squad in 2013. The Crewe Alexandra extended his own stay at the club last week by penning his new contract and that is only good news for those coming through the Academy ranks at the club.

Since succeeding Dario Gradi, Davis has carried on the tradition of promoting from within the camp and he has already handed a full debut to Oliver Turton, young wingers Ryan Colclough and Brendon Daniels and a brief introduction for Jon Guthrie against Swindon.

The Alex boss told the club’s official web-site: “I think we had 10 players from our Academy on the team-sheet at Preston and all the substitutes were under the age of 20. There were one or two on there who have yet to make their debuts, but it shows our commitment to developing young players.

“It will be a good experience for them to visit places like Preston, so when their chance does come along they won’t be fazes by anything. We will continue to bring our own players through and if they are good enough then they will play. I have always thought that.

“Of course, it is harder to bring them through, as quickly, as we are now in a higher league and it is a step up but all you can do is be patient with them and wait for them to be ready. You never quite know how they will do until they are thrown in at the deep end, if you like. It happened last season when we had to give Kelvin Mellor a go towards the end of the season and he kept his place.

Steve added: “With Toots suspended on Saturday, we gave Ollie Turton a chance and he did very well considering it was only his second start for the club.”