Steve praises debutant Lowery and winger Kirk

Davis was pleased with the impact made by his two young substitutes, Tommy Lowery and Charlie Kirk, during our narrow mid-week defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Checkatrade Trophy. Crewe fought back gallantly from 2-0 down to level through Chris Dagnall and our other substitute Ryan Lowe, but we let it slip again in the final two minutes following a defensive mix-up.teveS

The 3-2 defeat was harsh on Crewe, especially as Lowe scored a perfectly good goal that was wrongly ruled out for offside and we created numerous chances to have at least taken the tie to penalties.

Steve said of his subs: “I had the opportunity to rest a few on Tuesday but still named a team to be really competitive and to try and win the game. We always take the competition seriously and want to do well in it.

“It was good to see young Tom come on and make his debut. He came on and had an impact on the game and I was pleased with that. He tried to have an influential and he put some great deliveries into the box. He did well for his debut.

“Kirk played a bit more tucked in when he came on but he got into the box and had some chances. He had a goal ruled out for offside but he was more effective than Callum (Ainley) was in the first half.

“You learn about the players in these games. You learn where they are better suited to play and how they cope.”