Alex boss David Artell felt that our on-loan defender Corey Whelan was the  ‘best defender on the pitch’ as he marked his debut for the club following his loan move from Liverpool.

Whelan returned from International duty with the Republic of Ireland Under-21s to go straight into Crewe’s starting line-up in the goalless draw at Cheltenham. Whelan came through the 90 minutes and was only denied a potential derby goal by last ditch tackle in the first half.

Artell was impressed with the right-back’s first start for the club. “Corey was in our Academy as a youngster – we knew we’d have a good player.

"He’s at the third best academy in the country, when they’ve come through ours, they’ve not bad players, but they’ve just got to do it every game and some of them find that tough.

"Corey Whelan’s probably had the best of both worlds in the sense that he had us at a younger age and then had a bit of a different experience. He’s getting his opportunity and I thought he was terrific.

"I thought he was certainly the best defender on the pitch, that’s for sure."