Boss praise for Bakayogo's determination to come back from serious injury.

Steve Davis says that Zouma Bakayogo’s hard work and determination to recover from two serious knee injuries was the reason for him earning himself a non-contract until the end of the season. The former Leicester City and Tranmere Rovers defender will travel to Swindon later today in readiness for this weekend’s fixture at the County Ground.

Now the Crewe Alexandra boss says that the challenge is there for the 29-year-old to earn himself a longer contract with the club.

Steve told crewealex.net: “Zouma has been out for nearly two years after having two cruciate operations and no-one has worked as hard as him. It is great credit to him that he has battled back to earn himself a short deal.

“He is a terrific lad and has been great around the place. He is well liked by everyone. He played for us in pre-season and then he wanted to play again at Alsager but Rob (Sharp) pulled him out because he felt his knee wasn’t right. We didn’t take that risk with him and I think we were proven right with that.

“We told him that we would work with him to make sure that leg and his knee got stronger. We said he could come in and get fit and credit to him because we didn’t pay him one penny all the time he was here. He came in every day and worked as hard as anyone.

“He could have said no and walked away because he has a mortgage and family to support like everyone else but he stayed and that is very rare.

“It shows the great character he has and it has resorted some faith in football not being about money and greed but a footballer loving the game and trying to come back for his career.

He added: “We knew he was a good player and he has worked hard to get back to the level he was at before his injury. He still has some time on his side and he deserves a lot of credit.”