David Artell has told the club’s official website that his Crewe Alexandra side have missed the influence, experience and ability of Paul Green in his midfield engine room. It is hoped that Green will make his return from a serious knee injury in an Under-23 fixture next week as he aims to get back well ahead of schedule.

The former Oldham and Derby County man has not featured for the first-team since suffering the injury in a collision at Carlisle back in late August.

Artell says of the former Eire International: “Any team at our level would miss a player of Pau’s stature and calibre. We saw the impact he made from January onwards last season and we have missed him this season. There is no hiding from that fact.

“He has great experience and it helps in the game. Saturday’s game against Oldham is a perfect example of that, it was the type of game when we needed a Paul Green.

“What we have to be careful of is not expecting too much too soon from him. We cannot think about relying on him to be the messiah and all that. That’s not fair on him. He has a job to do like they all have.

“He is important for us there is no denying that but he is a not a miracle man.”