Steve says competition for places is fierce

Steve Davis says the competition for places in his Crewe Alexandra squad is so fierce that none of his starting XI is guaranteed a place. With the form of the returning Adam Dugdale and Brad Inman in the last two games, the competition being provided by Steve Phillips when it comes to the goalkeeping situation and Ollie Turton’s outstanding performance at Preston North End on Saturday, you can see the manager’s selection dilemma ahead of this weekend’s home encounter with Bury.

That is before you consider the fit again Kelvin Mellor and winger Michael West and the not too far off AJ Leitch-Smith.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “It is a good situation to have and we can sit down with the personnel we have available and devise a system to win the game. That is what we want as a manager and the players adjusted to the change in system on Saturday. That is not to say we will stick with that. We have some options with the shape and we will look at how Bury play.

“All we aim to do each week is to put a team out capable of being good enough to get a result. We want to be right on the day and try and win the game. That is why we always approach things.

“This side doesn’t pick itself and the players have to perform consistently well to stay in the team.”