Club captain Perry Ng will be used in a scouting role for his manager, as he serves the remaining five games of his suspension. Ng was banned by the Football Association following the altercation at the end of our FA Cup tie away at Cheltenham and David Artell says he will utilise his skipper to assist the team in his absence.

Ng’s first assignment saw him travel to Northampton to take in this weekend’s opponents in League One.

The Crewe Alexandra boss explained: “We will use Perry throughout his suspension to watch some games for us. He will watch the opposition and construct a report on them.

“He came into training on Saturday with the lads that were not in the squad and after that he jumped into his car and travelled to Northampton to watch them.

“It is not a punishment. He has been punished by the FA and we have dealt with it internally.

“It will give him a chance to watch the opposition and help him as a footballer. We are always encouraging players to work things out for themselves and this can only help with that. It helps their development and it will help Perry.”