Ryan Wintle’s scan on his fractured tibia has revealed that everything is progressing well with the healing process. The midfielder has not featured since suffering the injury back in September and the club sent the former Alsager Town midfielder for a routine scan after he complained of feeling some soreness when stepping up his rehab.

The scan results have come back all-clear, allowing the 20 year-old to push on in  his quest to be fit for the New Year.

Crewe boss David Artell told us: “Ryan’s stress fracture apparently will never fully heal, because that's what they do, but the bone scan says everything is fine.

“He wants to be back yesterday. If I said to him 'you're playing Saturday' he'd give it a go, but that would be foolish.

“He have to be cautious with him because Ryan will want to rush back as soon as he can. He is that type of lad.

He added: “When you have two mates (James Jones and George Ray) in a similar position it doesn't half help, because you push each other on.”