Boss says new midfielder will need time to settle into role

The club’s most recent recruit Anthony Grant will be given time to adapt to a new role in Crewe Alexandra’s midfield. The 26-year-old was a major coup for the club in the wake of Luke Murphy’s departure to Leeds United and boss Steve Davis says the former Stevenage and Southend man will need a bit of time to recapture his full match fitness after only appearing for just over an hour against Chester City this summer.

Grant showed glimpses of his talent during the 1-1 draw at the Deva Stadium and also showed his competitive nature with one or two tasty challenges, but Davis says it is wrong to tarnish the former Chelsea trainee with just the ‘midfield enforcer’ tag.

The Crewe boss has been suitably impressed by the midfielder’s ability and attitude in training so far. He told the club’s official web-site: “Anthony is a really good player and he has shown his quality in training.

“He has a terrific engine on him. He is a real box-to-box midfielder and he has been timing his runs into the opposition box in training really well. He will not be deterred to do that when the real stuff starts.

“He has a lot of experience and perhaps he has been underrated as a footballer because of the roles he has been asked to play at his previous clubs.

“He has impressed us and whilst he is not going to be Luke Murphy, he has a good range of passing, has a decent shot on him and we are working on him to improve his long-range passing. He has a lot of strengths and quality.

“He has only just come to the club and hasn’t really featured in pre-season, so these two remaining friendly games will do him some good in terms of his match fitness.

“Anthony will need a bit of time to adjust to his new role but this club will be patient with him because we know the quality he has.”