Tom Lowery made his return to first-team action with an impressive substitute appearance against Plymouth Argyle at the weekend. The former Academy graduate replaced Luke Murphy just after the hour mark at Home Park and played his part in making sure Crewe got level through Oli Finney’s fine finish.

The 1-1 draw against Ryan Lowe’s side protected Crewe’s unbeaten run that now stretches to an impressive 8 matches in League One.

Lowery has had to endure a frustrating time of late, having to self-isolate when he was deemed to have been in close contact with someone and then returning a positive Covid test himself, but hopefully after missing 20 days, he can enjoy a free run of games away from interruptions.

Crewe boss David Artell explained: “Tommy has had a frustrating time of late. He had to self-isolate because he was deemed to have come into close contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid and then he got it himself, so he had to self-isolate again.

“So out of a month, we had him here for about a week and that hasn’t helped him or us.

“The positive thing is that he was always safe and well but it was good to have him back on Saturday. He did well for us and you can see the difference he made.

He added: “When he plays like that and has that platform then we know the influence we can have.”