Boss hoping mini-break will have the desired effect

Crewe Alexandra boss Steve Davis is hoping that he has struck the right balance for his players to have recharged their batteries ahead of this weekend’s first derby clash of the season against Port Vale.

Some members of the squad featured in last night’s Under-21 game against Colchester United with the likes of Scott Shearer, Callum Saunders, George Cooper, James Baillie, James Jones, Greg Leigh and Chris Atkinson all given game time.  The players were in on Saturday morning for an in-house practice game between the squad and were then granted Sunday off before returning to training on Monday afternoon.

Steve said ahead of this weekend’s derby clash: “It is about getting the right balance between the work and their rest. It was good for them to get away from the training ground for a couple of days and refresh their mind and body.

“Hopefully having that rest will see them ready to go again because we have had a busy first month of the season. We knew it would Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday for a while and we were ready for that but the results haven’t gone for us.

“That first month has gone now. It is all about looking forward and to looking forward to this month.

“The players came in Saturday and we had a practice game. They then had Sunday off and they came in a bit later on Monday. We trained in the afternoon and some of them played 90 minutes for the Under-21s.

“They needed a bit of rest but I think it was the correct thing to do. They have worked hard this week and will continue to do so ahead of the Vale game.

“That is the thing with football. You have to look forward to the next game and they don’t come any bigger than Port Vale for us. It is a game we are all looking forward to.”