Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell is pleased with the competition he has created within his squad as we prepare for the 2018/19 campaign and he has told his players that they will all be needed if we are to have a successful season.

The Alex boss would still like to add a couple of full-backs to his options if he can, with the veteran defender Nicky Hunt close to agreeing a deal following a successful trial period with the club.

Although he has the majority of his stating eleven in his head, Artell says that places are still up for grabs with two pre-season friendlies against Leek (Thursday) and Blackpool (Saturday).

The Crewe boss told crewealex.net: “People can read into the line-ups as much as they like. I will read into it what I want. I would say that I’m not far off but there are places still up for grabs. I have eleven difficult decisions to make and that is what I wanted to create.

“I’ve told the players already that regardless if you are in the starting eleven for the first game against Morecambe or not we will need you over the season.

“We will need everyone to push each other. It doesn’t matter if it is a first year pro trying to break into the squad for the first time or a seasonal pro, we will need everyone in the squad. There are 50 plus games and they will all need to do their bit.”