Crewe 'reserves' have an opportunity to push themselves forward against Wigan.

Crewe Alexandra’s reserves are in action at Wigan Athletic today in a behind closed door fixture. The match was organised to give the club’s fringe contingent some game time and first team coach, Alex Morris, says that manager David Artell will use the match to decide on his 18-man squad for the weekend.

Crewe travel to neighbouring Port Vale this weekend aiming to bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing defeat to Cheltenham Town.

With George Ray suspended there is at least one place up for grabs at the back and Artell may look to freshen things up following our recent 3-1 defeat to the Robins.

Alex Morris told the club’s official website: “The idea of playing Wigan today is to give those playrs who have not played so much some game time.

“It also gives them an opportunity to push themselves into contention for Port Vale on Saturday, if not to start then to at least be the first substitute on. That is why the manager has gone there today to do his diligence on the players to see who is in the right frame of mind for the weekend.”