Boss says Stoke midfielder more than fits the bill as he aims to rebuild his midfield options.

Steve Davis says he hasn’t given up hope of trying to convince the Stoke City midfielder Jamie Ness from re-joining us next season and see him to continue to rebuild his career. Ness made 35 appearances for Crewe on loan last season and his performances, especially in the second half of the campaign saw him win third place in the voting for the supporters vote for player-of-the-season award.

Ness, 24, still has a year remaining on his contract with the Potters, but Davis says he would love to re-sign the Scotsman if his future could be resolved at the Britannia Stadium this summer. 

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “Signing two midfield players is our top priority and signing those players of real quality does cost. We do have to approach things a bit differently when it comes to our budget, but Jamie would be one we would be interested in again.

“He improved his fitness from purely playing games. We knew the quality he had because we saw it in training but he was just missing that match sharpness. When that came we saw the impact he had.

“He still has a year to run on his contract at Stoke and I don’t know what the future holds for him there. He is their player and until his future is resolved there we can’t do too much.

“Jamie knows we like him and it would only improve us to sign a player of that calibre. I am sure he is like any other player and he wants to play as high as he can. He is an ambitious lad but what we did like about him was his hunger to do well.

“He worked hard to get back fit towards the end of the season and he made the final game when he could have quite easily have gone back to Stoke and said that he was done. I know he enjoyed the experience and he played a big part in seeing us stay up.

The boss added: “I know what I would be getting with Jamie and he is the type we would be looking for with the quality he has.”