Crewe Alexandra have received a welcome boost with the news that midfielder Tom Lowery has made a successful return to full training. The midfielder has not featured at first team level since late January after suffering with pelvic and groin problems.

The former Academy graduate, who had scored 5 goals before his injury, underwent surgery on his hernia and the lockdown period certainly helped in his rehabilitation.

Crewe boss David Artell told the club’s official website: “Tom has returned to full training and that is a terrific boost for everyone.

“We were never worried about it, but this club has had a couple of extended hernia problems in the past with the likes of Ryan Colclough and James Jones so we didn’t want to delay things with Tom.

“It wasn’t a case of him having an injection and seeing if things calm down. When there wasn’t that improvement, he was straight off to see the specialist again. He has seen that specialist and had some ultra-sound treatment and it seems to have worked.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel but I won’t be putting too much pressure on him and not have him playing with pain.

“Tom hasn’t had a pre-season, so we don’t expect him to be back tomorrow, next week or the one after but he has turned the corner and we will wait and see.

He added: “One thing is for sure, Tom feels better now than he did a month ago. The good thing is he hasn’t missed too much football because of what has happened with lockdown and no football.”