Steve Davis says he won't meddle too much with tactics and personnel

Although we haven’t managed to record our first win of the season in the League this season, Steve Davis says he will continue to keep faith with his tactical shape and personnel. The Crewe Alexandra boss has only made one real change to his starting line-up since the season kicked off with Ryan Colclough replacing Lauri Dalla Valle in the last two games.

The boss was forced into a defensive reshuffle mid-way through the first half against Bury on Saturday after George Ray was withdrawn after suffering from breathing problems following a blow to the throat. He has been given the all-clear to resume training.

James Baillie came on at full-back to mark his first appearance of the season with Jon Guthrie moving across into his more accustomed central role.

Crewe have worked hard during the pre-season on a flexible 4-3-3 formation but the boss has already tinkered with that in matches, by playing one off the front or switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The Alex boss told crewealex.net: “We have worked on things over the past two months and I’ve been pleased that some of that work we have done as a group has been transferred into the matches.

“We have just got to be better at what we are trying to do. We have done some really god things and have at times done some poor things and made wrong decision. It is still a work in progress but the football has been good and we are certainly passing the ball more and tying to open the opposition up by being patient and clever.

“We will stick with our philosophy and try not to meddle too much with the tactics or formation. I’ve been pleased with the shape and the way we have tried to get on the front foot. We need to improve in certain aspects but we won’t give up on it.

The boss added: “The players are working hard to try and get that first win and we have the players here who can be flexible in what we want them to do. We have switched certain things in games to try and get the upper hands in games and the players have adjusted to that.”