David Artell has claimed that Chris Dagnall must sleep on a ‘bed of nails’ as he continues to play through the pain barrier for the club.

Dagnall again came off the bench last night in the 3-1 win over Forest Green Rovers and Artell revealed afterwards that the experienced striker has returned ahead of schedule to help out.

Following the 3-1 win over Forest Green Rovers, Artell explained to crewealex.net: “The truth is Daggers shouldn’t be playing for another 13 days but he wants to help the team out. We have tried to nurse him through and use him when we can.

“Daggers is a terrific professional and he has made himself available to help out. He probably needs another week to ten days to be fully fit.

“I would think that he sleeps on a bed of nails.”