Christopher Long has suffered a slight set-back in his return to fitness. The summer signing from Motherwell has not had much luck so far in his Crewe career.

He has had to self-isolate over Covid-19 concerns, was one of the players struck down by the sickness bug ahead of the trip to Oxford and then suffered a knee injury against Portsmouth.

On the pitch, his debut for the club was dramatically cut short after he was the one sacrificed in the wake of Billy Sass-Davies early red card against Hartlepool in the EFL Cup.

Long has made a successful return to training, but has now suffered a slight set-back, putting him back 2-3 weeks.

David Artell told the club’s official website: “It is nothing too serious with Christopher. He returned to training but suffered a slight set-back. He tweaked something and we sent him for a scan to make sure there is nothing more sinister happening there.

“We are thinking 2-3 weeks and we just have to wait a bit longer for him.”