David Artell says he will continue to have one eye on next season when it comes to his squad selection but he still wants to win football matches. The Alex boss will totally respect the integrity of competition when facing teams with something still riding on their season.
Three of Crewe’s last four opponents have something to play for at the moment in respect of the play-offs, or in the case of our next opponent, Yeovil Town, relegation from the Football League.
Crewe finish the season with a trip to Grimsby Town, who are more than safe under our former Academy manager Michael Jolley.
Artell selected a strong side against Notts County last time out and it paid off with a comfortable 3-0 win over the struggling Magpies.
He will do the same against Yeovil on Good Friday with three clubs battling to remain in the EFL.
David told crewealex.net: “I have said that I have to look forward to next season if I can but I still want to win games of football. That is imperative as well because we want to build some momentum and take that into next season as well.
“We didn’t want to end up losing five or six on the spin. That is not what it is about and there are rules in place to make sure that teams cannot play ‘weakened’ teams. I would only pick players who I know are ready and can handle the experience anyway.
“I need to look at some players and that is why it was good to get Owen (Dale) and Lewis (Reilly) on the pitch on Saturday. I could have made a different substitution and got Billy Sass-Davies on the pitch for the last ten minutes but on the plus side, Jonah came on and got his goal.
He added: “I am always thinking about selection, who we need to look at, who deserves a chance? Our position gives us a unique way to do that and helps us develop our players.”