David Artell says that his pre-season preparations are ‘coming along nicely ‘and his main aim is to try and make sure that the club are not hit by a succession of injuries.

The Crewe Alexandra boss does not want to be caught short of numbers after having his captain George Ray and midfielders James Jones and Ryan Wintle ruled out with injury for a considerable period last season.

Of course, injuries are part and parcel of sport and Artell is just hoping that we have the rub of the green this time around.

He told the club’s official website: “I think we are coming along nicely at the moment. The players will get 90 minutes at one of the games this evening and they are working hard physically with a few double sessions.

“You don’t quite know how you will be once the season comes around. You will have a better idea after the first six or seven games.

“I remember at one of my old clubs, we were beaten 5-0 or 6-0 on the opening day of the season and we were fine in the end. Yeovil conceded eight last season against Luton and they were fine in the end.

He added:  “The only thing you can ask for in pre-season is being injury-free. You want the players to get through it without them picking up a serious injury. That determines if you are have a successful pre-season or not in my book.”