David Artell admits that with the on-going Covid crisis resulting in record infections in the country it is not easy to prepare for the busy Christmas period. Crewe Alexandra’s away game at Gillingham was postponed at the weekend due to a high transmission rate inside the Kent club and Artell says all we can do is focus on the fixtures until told otherwise.

The Crewe boss was disappointed that Saturday’s game was postponed, but totally understood the decision to protect Gillingham’s staff and players.

Artell told the club’s official website: “It is a crucial stage of the season when you can get a lot of points very quickly, but we also know we are as a country and peoples’ health has to come first.

“There are a lot of games close together and if we could get back-to-back wins then it could take us out of the relegation zone because it is close but all we can do is approach each game as it comes.

“We prepared for Gillingham and that was postponed so the attention quickly switched to Wigan on Boxing Day. That is out main focus and we will carry on as normal, albeit with greater restrictions on what we can and can do and take it from there.”