Steve Davis encourages his midfield and defence to chip in with a few goals.

Crewe Alexandra manager Steve Davis is encouraging his players to take more risks and go on the front foot when it comes to pushing midfield players forward.

The Alex boss wants his new midfield players to chip in with a few goals this season, as well encouraging some of his defenders to become more of a threat from set-plays.

Crewe were held to a goalless draw by Port Vale at the weekend and Steve is looking for more creativity in the final third as we prepare to take on Championship side Preston North End in the League Cup.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “We always want to win every game, but there are not any points at stake this evening and hopefully they can relax and take a few more risks.

“I want them to express themselves and get on the ball. We need to try and create more than we did against Port Vale on Saturday. We have to make better decisions in the final third of the pitch.

“It is still very early but once we have players scoring one or two goals then that will give us more confidence going forward. We have players capable of scoring goals and we need as many players as we can to chip in with a few goals as well.

“We cannot just rely on the front two or three. I want the midfielders to get forward and chip in with a few goals and the defenders can chip in with a few at important times too.”