Boss objective is have everyone fit and available for opener at Stevenage.

Crewe Alexandra boss Steve Davis says he and his staff will continue to monitor the fitness levels of his squad as they prepare for our opening two friendly games against Buxton FC on Friday and Kidsgrove on Monday.

The Alex boss is hoping to avoid any injury set-backs ahead of the new season after starting the last campaign without James Jones (shoulder) and Captain Harry Davis (knee). The club also lost Billy Bingham due to a serious hamstring injury within the first month.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “We are looking for the players to make steps forward. The aim is for them to push themselves and improve each day. If they achieve best times in their running then we know from the results that they are progressing and heading in the right direction. That is all we can ask.

“The focus is to make sure they are as fit as they can be over the next six weeks and to make sure that they are fit and available for the opening day of the season.

“We want to get through the pre-season unscathed and have them all available if we can. We lost two or three early on and they were out for months. We don’t want a repeat of that if we can help it.

He added: “Injuries happen and you have to cope with them, especially when they are impact injuries. It is the muscle pulls and strains that we need to try and avoid. We will monitor them and how they feel over the six weeks to make sure we don’t have any of them breaking down.