Rod McDonald made his first appearance in a Crewe Alexandra shirt against one of his formers clubs on Saturday and Alex Morris says that the defender’s extensive experience will play an important role in our defensive backline.

McDonald played the first 45 minutes against Nantwich in our first friendly and helped goalkepeer David Richards achieve a pre-season clean-sheet in our 3-0 win.

Morris believes that the 30-year-old McDonald will only help the younger players in the Crewe back four or five going forward.

The boss told crewealex.net: “Rod did what we expect from him. He will clear out of our box and he makes good decisions. He knows when to maintain possession or when perhaps to hit a longer pass and that comes from the experience he has gained over many years.

“He is 30 now and has plenty of EFL experience under his belt. That game awareness is only going to a real plus for us going forward and he will help the others around him.”