Davis says Ireland youngster stepped up to the plate in place of injured duo

Steve Davis says Tuesday night’s physical encounter at Stevenage would have served as a good learning curve for young midfielder Liam Nolan. The Northern Ireland youth International made only his second start of the season, ironically against the same opponents, after George Evans and Abdul Osman were both ruled out with foot injuries.

Nolan, 19, will certainly benefit from making that step up from development football and Davis says the experience will serve him good moving forward.

The Alex boss told crewealex.net: “I thought Liam did okay on Tuesday. He would have found the pace and the pressing of Stevenage hard going at times but he is a young lad learning his game.

“To be fair we had to rely on him because of the injuries and he slotted in perfectly alongside Granty (Anthony Grant). I was pleased with their work ethic and I thought Granty was excellent and controlled things in there.

He added: “Liam would have learnt a lot and we had to replace one 19 year-old with another 19-year-old and we have dominated the game and I was frustrated for the players because they deserved something for their efforts.”