Steve Davis remains cautious with his summer signings

Crewe Alexandra’s summer signings Marcus Haber and Chris Atkinson will not be risked against Barnsley in tomorrow night’s Capital One Cup tie at Oakwell. Atkinson was not deemed quite fit enough to be involved against Fleetwood at the weekend after he suffered a slight hamstring strain against Wolverhampton Wanderers in pre-season.

Atkinson has made steady progress all week and will feature in a reserve friendly against Stoke City on Wednesday to give him some match practice.

Fellow new signing Marcus Haber marked his debut as a second half substitute at Fleetwood but after missing most of the pre-season following his release from Stevenage, the target man is not ready to play a full 90 minutes. Haber is likely to be named in the squad for the trip to Oakwell and he is set for feature for the reserve team as well on Wednesday.

Steve Davis told the club’s official web-site: “Marcus wouldn’t be able to play 90 minutes at the moment because he is a few weeks behind after missing a lot of the pre-season.

“He isn’t fit enough to start a game but we will use him in some capacity at Barnsley. We will then look to play him against Stoke reserves on Wednesday to give him some game time.

“Chris Atkinson will also play in that game as he is a lot further forward. He isn’t far away now. A fit Marcus and a fit Chris will certainly strengthen us.”