David Artell says opportunities will be there for players to stake their claim.

Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell has praised George Ray for grabbing his opportunity of a recall with both hands. Ray replaced Harry Davis in the defensive back-line and he marshalled the dangerous Danny Hylton fairly well despite our 2-1 defeat.

Ray was making his first league start of the season against the Hatters and he claimed the sponsors Man-of-the-Match award for his performance.

Artell told the club’s official web-site: “The sponsors voted George as their man-of-the-match and they were right, he played well. He was fine and you can still concede two goals as a defender and still play well.

“Hylton is a handful and he looked after him well. We knew their front two, as a partnership they would be a handful.

“The goals we conceded were preventable and not good from a defensive point of view. We have to stop making those mistakes because they are important moments in any game. It happens at whatever level you play at and the trick is to make sure you don’t do them too often.

He added: “I’ve told all the players that it is a clean slate. Some players will be buzzing with that because they have been out of the team and now they have their opportunity. It is there for them, they have to play well enough to get into the team and well enough to stay in. When that opportunity comes they have to grab it and George did.”