Defender forced off in second half at Shrewsbury.

Crewe Alexandra will assess the injury to central defender Ben Nugent after he was forced off in the second half of our 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town due to a groin strain.

Nugent appeared to be struggling after making a last ditch tackle to prevent Tyrone Barnett from equalising in the first half but he played on through the pain barrier and reappeared for the second half at the Greenhous Meadow.

After collecting one or two more knocks he was eventually replaced by George Ray, as Crewe continued to operate with three centre-halves to match Shrewsbury’s 3-5—2 system in a tight second half.

Steve Davis told the club’s official web-site: “Ben (Nugent) aggravated his groin and was unable to continue. He tried to battle on and did for as much as he could but he was finding it hard to run freely, so we had to make that change.

“I decided to match them up at half-time to try and get more of a foothold in the game. They had some big lads in their side and I thought they would be a threat from the set-plays but I thought we defended them really well and at times the defending was immaculate.”