Boss says youngsters should follow Westy's example

Steve Davis, the Crewe Alexandra manager, is hoping that Ashley Westwood’s move to Aston Villa will only serve as a spur for the young players in his squad and those below in the club’s development squads. Westwood, 22, signed a four year deal at Villa Park on deadline day after helping his hometown club to promotion last season. He started the season as our new club captain but understandably couldn’t turn down a move to the FA Premier League.

Davis admits that losing Westwood will be a blow, but say that his absence will give others a chance to stake their claim, much in the same way Max Clayton has since Nick Powell moved to Manchester United in the summer.

Steve told crewealex.net:”I hope Ash moving to a great club like Villa and into the Premier League will act as a spur to the others to show what they can do.

“The moves of Nick and Ash to Premier League clubs only shows that if they work hard enough and perform consistently enough, they might get their chance to play higher.

“That is how I view it and that is the good thing about having hungry young players with desire to do that.

“The transfer window closed on Friday and on the Saturday, the scouting list was ever bigger, so that just goes to show that we are doing things the right way and have good players here.

Steve added: “It is great we have good players who will move on I think, although you do want to keep them to take the club forward as well. It is about balancing that out and not weakening the team too much.”