Boss calls on his young players to be ready mentally as well as physically for new season.

Steve Davis says that his emerging youngsters will have to be mentally and physically prepared for the new season. The Crewe boss has admitted that offering young players a professional contract is always a risk and that it is always a considerable step up into ‘adult’ football.

Following the conclusion of the season, the boss offered pro terms to midfielder Tom Lowery and he joins his fellow youth team-mates, Callum Ainley, Charlie Kirk and Ollie Finney in the first-team squad. First year scholars Harry Pickering and Owen Dale also signed improved terms. 

He also released the five first-year professionals after they failed to establish themselves in the first-team squad. Only midfielder Joe Howell made his senior bow during the last campaign.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “You always take a bit of a gamble when you sign players. There are no certainties and you are never sure.

“They have a chance to progress and impress. I made the conscious decision not to give them a shirt straight away. That is something that has to be earned through their performances.

  He added: “They have to approach things right both on and off the pitch and make sure they come back mentally as well as physically right for the pre-season. We can only help them as much as we can. It is up to them then.”