Jamie Sterry would ‘most probably had played’ against Crawley Town this weekend, if he had not returned to his parent club Newcastle United. With George Ray suspended, it will reopen the door for someone else to stake their claim.
The full-back has returned to St. James’ Park after being recalled by his club and he is expected to be involved in their FA Premier League Cup against Reading this evening.
Sterry had to wait patiently for his chance after re-joining Crewe on loan mainly due to the good form we were in. He did start against Northampton at left-back but was again left out after Harry Pickering returned from injury.
David Artell says he is disappointed to lose Sterry for the remaining nine games but respects Newcastle’s decision.
He told the club’s official website: “Jamie left us on Monday and returned to Newcastle, I can only assume that they wanted him back and that he was unhappy because he hasn’t played as much but when he joined us the team were unbeaten in five games or whatever it was, we lost one, then he played and we lost again.
“Ironically with George being suspended, he had a chance of playing in the next two games at the very least. Then if he did well then he gets the shirt.
“It’s fine, it’s their decision and we move on. I would think Jamie has moved on as well. There are no hard feelings from our side of things. It’s football and you quickly move on.”