David Artell has hinted that youngster Lewis Reilly may get his opportunity to prove that he could be the answer to our goalscoring problem. Reilly has only featured briefly once as a substitute this season at first team level and he has more recently been out on loan at Halesowen.

But with Crewe struggling for goals, especially on the road, the Academy graduate may get his chance to show that he could be the finisher we are craving for. Crewe have continued to carve out chances in games but have failed to take them.

Artell told crewealex.net: “We need a finisher and Lewis is a good finisher. He is a possibility, he has to be.

“He could be what we need. Now, we have to be careful because he is still young and still learning and we don’t want to throw him in at the deep end and hamper his development but he is certainly in our thoughts with January around the corner.”