Chris Atkinson and Marcus Haber pushing for places after run out against Stoke

Steve Davis admits he has a few selection headaches ahead of tomorrow’s opening home game of the season. The Crewe Alexandra boss has virtually a full compliment of players to choose from with Barnsley rolling into South Cheshire this weekend.

Only Harry Davis (knee) and Ryan Colclough (hernia) are out of tomorrow’s opening game with new summer signings Marcus Haber and Chris Atkinson successfully coming through a reserve friendly against Stoke City on Wednesday and defender Thierry Audel shaking off a shoulder injury.

Atkinson and Haber were involved in the mid-week draw with the Potters as they continue their aim to sharpen their match fitness after missing a large chunk of the pre-season fitness work.

Steve told us: “Marcus and Chris played in the week and performed well. We organised a practice game to give the likes of Marcus and Chris a chance to get some minutes and for some of the younger ones to play a game.

“I was impressed with the way they all played. There were some good performances against a strong Stoke side. I was satisfied with all of them and some of them only put themselves forward again. Chris and Marcus go a good hour, 70 minutes under their belt and they looked sharper because of it.

“They are both progressing well and are close to being fit enough to start games. I have had 24 players training regularly and when we get Harry (Davis) and Ryan (Colclough) training and get one or two more in then we would have a squad with a lot of competition and cover.”