Crewe without four for trip to Doncaster

Crewe Alexandra forward Ryan Colclough didn’t feature for the club’s Development squad yesterday as he was unable to train at the end of last week due to illness. Colclough has trained this week but wasn’t risked for the trip to Birmingham City yesterday. Crewe ended up losing 4-3 after having Anthony Stewart and Brad Inman sent-off.

Jon Guthrie (knee) and Chris Atkinson (knee) are very close to a return with both players expected to train this week.

Club captain Matt Tootle has had a supportive boot fitted and has been told to rest it for a week to allow his troublesome ankle to settle down. He suffered some inflammation and discomfort for a number of weeks.

Steve Davis told crewealex.net: “Ryan didn’t play for the Under-21s because he was ill towards the end of last week and didn’t train much. He wasn’t fit to play but he has been in doing his work now.

Hopefully, he will be involved and ready to play a game next week.

“Jon and Chris are very close and they will train this week. They will need some game time.

“Matt has had a boot on to give it some support because he has suffered with inflammation. He is back in doing his work and will continue to assess him.”