Club will give young defender all the time he needs to recover after falling ill.

Crewe Alexandra’s promising young defender Zac Williams missed the weekend defeat to Rotherham United through illness. His Youth Team defensive partner, Connor O’Riordan, came into David Artell’s team in his absence to mark his full league debut for the club.

Williams’ illness is not Covid related, but it will rule him out of Tuesday’s important trip to Gillingham. The young Welshman, 17, has been a revelation since coming into the league side for our trip to Bolton Wanderers and the club’s assistant manager, Kenny Lunt, has wished the defender a speedy recovery.

Lunt told the club’s official website: “Zac has been off with illness, it is not covid but it is important he is healthy. That is the most important thing and we will give him all the time he needs to recover properly.

“When he has recovered then it will be really good to have him back because he is a big miss with the ability he has. Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later and we will make sure he is checked over by the doctor and physio here to make sure he is healthy and ready to return to training.

Kenny added: “Being well is the most important thing and we all wish him a speedy recovery.”