David Artell admits that he didn’t elect to make any changes last night against Shrewsbury Town because he wanted a number of his fringe contingent to get 90 minutes under their belt.

The likes of goalkeeper, Dave Richards, defenders Eddie Nolan, Olly Lancashire and midfielders Oli Finney and Callum Ainley all started in the 4-3 defeat. Daniel Powell scored twice and Offrande Zanzla notched his first goal for the club to put the Railwaymen 3-2 ahead, only to see that lead slip away in the final 20 minutes.

The Alex boss named a strong bench last night but elected not to use any of his senior players to preserve them for the weekend fixture against league leaders Peterborough United.

David told crewealex.net: “I didn’t make any changes because I wanted the lads that played to get 90 minutes without any of them getting injured. That was the main priority and we managed to do that.

“The first priority was to get through the game without any more injuries. That allowed the lads on the bench to keep their pipe and slippers on.

“I am sure Shrewsbury felt the same. They had a couple of 16 year-olds on the bench whilst most of their regular players were tucked up in bed. We don’t have the luxury to do that because we don’t have a big enough squad but I make no apology for that.

“Should we have done better and won the game? Yes, and it was disappointing to lose it like we did, but we didn’t get any more injuries and those that needed 90 minutes got them.”