Captain return will be a boost over Christmas period

Crewe Alexandra boss Steve Davis is confident that he will have his captain Matt Tootle available for selection again as the club head into a busy festive period of games. Tootle has not featured for the first team since the end of October following a debilitating illness.

The club’s dependable defender drastically lost weight and was unable to train for close to three weeks as he fully recovered.

He was close to making himself available for the visit of Doncaster Rovers last weekend but was not risked after not yet feeling 100% in the build-up to the game.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “We hope to have Matt back for our next game. He has had to put some weight on and build his fitness back up because the illness he had took a lot out of him.

“He is getting there and it’s just a question of him getting his confidence back after missing a month.

“Matt will be the first to admit that he hasn’t hit the heights of last season when he was outstanding for us but the talent is very much there. That is permanent and never goes while form sometimes dips a bit.

He added: “He has been out for a bit now and we have had to be careful with him. The quicker he gets back the better it will be us because he has been missed.”