Former Chelsea man certainly caught the eye with his attacking intent
One of the main positives that came out of Crewe Alexandra’s overall performance at Gillingham was the attacking intent of new full-backs, Tariq Uwakwe and Ryan Alebiosu.
Both had the desire to get forward and provide crosses into the opposition box and neither were afraid to shoot when the opportunity arose either.
In fact, Ukakwe’s second half effort from a well worked short corner probably produced the best save of the evening from the Gills stopper, Aaron Chapman.
Despite dominating much of the second period, Crewe couldn’t find that equaliser that our endeavour deserved and we slipped to a 1-0 defeat.
The former Chelsea Academy graduate, Uwakwe, certainly prides himself on trying to help the team in the final third of the pitch. During a successful loan spell at Accrington Stanley, he scored a hat-trick on his debut against Leeds United’s Under-21s in the EFL Trophy and immediately followed that up with his first league goal against Peterborough United.
The former England youth international told the club’s official website: “I do pride myself on my attacking play and helping the team with goals, assists and chances created. I do aspire to attack and help the team that way.
“Scoring three goals on my debut for Accrington and then scoring in the next game certainly gave me a lot of confidence at the time. It helped me believe that I could do this at this level and I enjoyed the experience. It was very different to what I was used to at Chelsea but in a good way, because it was an introduction to men’s football and being competitive.
“I learnt a lot from it and I had to adjust and get used to it because it is so different from Under-23s football.
“I wanted to come out and show what I could do and Crewe have a young team and a reputation for developing players, so I thought it was the perfect fit for me. Hopefully, I can get the game time on the pitch and show what I can do. I’m excited by the challenge and I’ve seen enough to think that we can still get out of the situation we find ourselves in.”