Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell has revealed that not one player knocked on his door on deadline day asking to leave on loan. The Alex boss is pleased that he was able to keep the players he wanted to and the fact that everyone wants to stay and fight for their place.

Talking about yesterday’s deadline day, Artell told crewealex.net: “Not one player knocked on my door wanting to go out. Not one.

“That is a brilliant thing. It shows that those out of the team want to stay and fight for their place. They may not be in the team but they want to stay here and try and get in.

“That is the competition we want and those not in the team have to do better to get into the team then they have to do well to stay in.

He added: “Overall I was a delighted manager during the window because we have been able to keep our own players.”