Artell on the return of fans to the Mornflake Stadium

David Artell says that the Alex faithful will have a massive part to play in our season. The EFL will welcome supporters back to full capacity at the weekend for the first time in almost 18 months and Artell says that the atmospheres they will generate will give everyone a boost.

Cree kick off their League One campaign at home to Cheltenham Town on Saturday and Artell for one cannot wait for the eagerly anticipated fixture at the newly named Mornflake Stadium.

Artell told the club’s official website: “The emotion and the passion the supporters bring into the stadiums rubs off on the players. It has to.  

“When they are behind you and pushing you on and you feel that as a player, it only helps. We saw the difference is made when we played Northampton last season when we were permitted 2,500.

“We scored with the final kick of the game and I am not sure that would have happened without our fans that day. They pushed us on to go and win that game. That is the difference a crowd has.

“If they are coming this weekend, they need to be bringing their singing voices because we will need them. We will need them at every home game and we will need them when we go to Ipswich and there are 15,000 home fans or Sunderland when there could be 25,000. They are so, so important.

“They have to know how important they are and how they can influence the performance. They have a huge part to play this season and we want as many as we can there this Saturday and thereafter.”