Leitch-Smith hoping to be involved and help us back to Wembley

AJ Leitch-Smith is hoping to put his injury nightmare behind him by helping fire Crewe Alexandra back to Wembley. The local lad was one of our top performers in the play-offs last season, scoring a vital opening goal at Southend United in the first-leg and performing admirably in the final.

He has only just returned to first-team following a serious ankle injury sustained away at Portsmouth back in October and the forward is now aiming to make up for lost time this season. Leitch-Smith came off the substitutes’ bench at the weekend to score the only goal of the game against Scunthorpe United and he is hoping to be involved at some stage this evening.

Ahead of the trip to Coventry, AJ told Crewe Alex Player: “I have endured a frustrating time so it is nice to be back. It was frustrating because I thought I was only going to be out for a month but it turned into something like nine weeks in the end.

“You have to start again. You have to get your fitness back, your sharpness back and try and force your way back into the team. I managed to come off the bench on Saturday and score and that gives you confidence. I have to build on that now and hopefully I will be involved against Coventry.

“It is a big game. There is over 30,000 fans there and it is a chance for us to go there and prove how good we can be. As a footballer you want to be involved in big games like these.”