The club are waiting on the results of a scan for the injured Ryan Wintle. The midfielder complained of some slight soreness in his ankle after he stepped up his training but David Artell is hoping that the set-back will not be too serious.

Wintle has not played since fracturing his tibia back in September and the former Alsager Town midfielder has worked hard to return to a level of fitness that has seen him out running again.

The Crewe boss told the club’s official website: “Ryan has had a CT scan to assess the area where he had the stress fracture. He has had a little bit of soreness there, but we are hoping that it will be positive.

“We are hoping that he is given the all-clear and that as a result the consultant will let us ramp up his training. We are hoping for good news.

“He has been out for a few months now and will need to play some football before we would consider him for the first-team again.”