Crewe Alexandra could be without left-sided player Harry Pickering for the trip to Carlisle United this weekend.

Boss Dave Artell confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the player was substituted in the defeat at Colchester because of injury.

Pixie is thought to be the only member of the eligible first team squad unavailable for the clash at Brunton Park, with the boss keen on finding a remedy to cure the hurt of the heavy loss to the U's.

He said: "Harry is the only one we're waiting on with regards to tomorrow.

"He's had it checked out & I'm getting word on the results today on the extent of the problem.

"We're hopeful it's not serious & that he could even be fit for tomorrow. It's one of those innocuos ones where we need to find the full details before we know what we're dealing with.

"Of course we'd like Harry there with us, but we've got a number of players who are chomping at the bit to be in the team, so we'll manage fine if he can't make it."