Nottingham and Walker in. None out.

Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell says that he hopes that the club’s planning in the January transfer window will pay off and get us over the line in what is proving to be an exciting and unpredictable race for promotion.

Artell has today added the Middlesbrough forward, Stephen Walker, to his squad and along with Michael Nottingham and with those two new loan signings added, the boss is pleased with his January business.

Artell told crewealex.net: “We had a meeting at Christmas and spoke about what we wanted to happen above anything else. We made a presentation to the board and the clear path was set out.

“We knew the types of players we wanted and needed and how we were going to go about it. I am just pleased that the planning has come to fruition.

“Of course, injuries in the middle of January can put a spanner in the works but we stuck to our guns and focussed on what we wanted to do. We were prepared to quickly move on to something else and that helped us.

“We had to negotiate hard and stick to our guns on that because we are blessed with an endless budget but the board have been supportive again. We had a little money left over in the budget from the summer after the Chairman recommended that we kept some in supply for January and what a decision that was.

He added: “They have been brilliant and I am pleased that the hard work has paid off. Of course, we will have to see how it works out but we have got two of the targets we wanted and I am delighted. “