Midfielder suffers stress fracture of the ankle

Crewe Alexandra are set to be without young midfielder Josh Lundstram for a period of time after he suffered a stress fracture of the ankle.

Lundstram, who made his first-team breakthrough at the start of this season when making his full debut against Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup, has suffered the injury set-back at a time when he was pushing for more inclusion at first-team level.

The club are hopeful that the injury is not too serious after an MRI scan showed up the problem but Artell is having to plan without one of his most reliable squad members.

It is a set-back for the 21-year-old midfielder, who has made a good early impression with his performances against Bolton, Charlton, Hull, MK Dons and Newcastle Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

David Artell told the club’s official website: “Josh has a stress fracture of the ankle and that has accumulated over a period of time. It has been over time and an MRI scan showed it up.

“He will go for a CAT-scan and we are hopeful that it is not as bad as we fear but we accept that he will be out for a bit.”