David Artell has revealed that defender Michael Raynes has only lost his place on the Crewe Alexandra bench due to his lack of versatility to play more than one position. With the return to fitness of George Ray, the Alex boss had the difficult decision to leave Raynes out of the squad of 18 for the visit of Oldham Athletic on Tuesday evening.
Artell explained to the club’s official website: “It is the first time for a long time that we have had all the defenders fully fit. George was back from injury and we have all the centre-halves available plus Corey (Whelan) and Nicky (Hunt) who can play there as well.
“Michael has been unfortunate because he is restricted to the one position. He is a terrific pro, one of the best I’ve ever worked with and he knows that his aim is to get back in the team like anyone else, who is not in at the moment.
He added“I explained the decision to him and to Kevin (O’Connor) before the game and they understood the thinking behind it because of the versatility of the other defenders and that gave us a chance to put Owen Dale in there.”