Local lad Billy Waters looks forward to his first real taste of derby day

Local lad Billy Waters says that growing up through the Crewe Academy and watching a number of local derby clashes with Port Vale has only helped prepare him for his first real taste of it.Waters has been in decent form this season, scoring two goals already and playing in various attacking roles at senior level.

Waters appreciates what the derby games means to the town and he is determined to get the Alex back on track with their first positive result of the season in League One.

Ahead of this weekend’s clash, Waters said: “Port Vale is a huge game for the fans. It means a lot to us too because there are so many academy boys in the squad. We’ve all grown up at Crewe and we know how important this game is. There are 46 games in a season and not just the two against them, but they are great opportunities for us to build confidence and fan support.

“It helps playing with all the lads I’ve grown up with because you’ve been playing with these players for years now, so you know what they’re going to do and they know what you’re going to do, especially with Turts and Liam in midfield who I’ve been playing with for a number of years.

“When I play on the right-wing, having Toots at right-back is good because even when I haven’t been playing I’ve been watching him since being a scholar so I always know what kind of player he is and what he’s going to do and that he’s going to have the ability to find you to feet or in behind.

Billy added: “We’ve got to have eight or nine of our players on top of their game every match to be a success. If that happens then you become so much better and it’s so much easier for you because you all work off each other – that happened against Bolton. Brad (Inman) scored the goal and we were then terrific for a spell and probably should’ve been more than 1-0 up in the first 20 minutes.”