Boss hoping that Mellor absence will spur him back into form

Steve Davis is hoping that leaving Kelvin Mellor out of Saturday’s squad against Gillingham will have the desired impact on his talented defender. Mellor was left out at the weekend as Thierry Audel was handed his debut at right back with regular Matt Tootle injured and young George Ray was named substitute on what was an attack-minded bench.

Mellor, who helped the club win promotion in 2012 and cup success a year later, started the season in the team at right-back, with Tootle showing his utility by switching over to the left hand side, but a dip in his form has seen him lose his place to first Gregor Robertson and the emerging Jon Guthrie.

Steve explained to crewealex.net: “Kelvin was left out because he has not been doing well enough to get into the squad. He knows that and he knows what he has to do.

“He hasn’t played as well as we know he can this season and perhaps has suffered a dip in confidence. We left him out as I wanted an attack-minded bench and some players need that kick to get themselves going again and to be fair to him he has trained really well this week.

“We know what he can do and what he is capable of and it is just a question of him rediscovering that form that saw him as a regular in the side. “