Boss pleased to start pre-season with comfortable win at Nantwich

Crewe Alexandra manager Alex Morris enjoyed a 3-0 win over our near neighbours Nantwich Town in what was his first ever pre-season game in charge at senior level.

Crewe ran out fairly comfortable winners on the day and could have had more goals in relation to our dominance of the possession - but overall, Morris, was pleased that we came through unscathed and achieved that valuable game time into most of his players. Those who were fit to play got 45 minutes each as Morris selected alternative teams for each half of football.

The Alex boss says it was also important to start the pre-season campaign with a victory, as he quickly aims to rebuild a winning mentality after the huge disappointment of last season’s relegation back in League Two.

An own goal, a tap in from trialist Adam Wilson and a converted rebound from Bassala Sambou saw the Alex begin the summer with a win against Dave Cooke’s well organised and spirited Nantwich side.

Morris told the club’s official website: “We wanted the players to show us that they had picked up the patterns of play and style we have introduced in training, which they did to a certain degree.

“As always in the first pre-season friendly and certainly the first two or three, you always want to get that fitness element out of it so we set them a challenge. They had 10 seconds to get the ball back at any point and if they didn’t that equated to a run at half time or at the end of the game.

“Therefore there was pressure on them to win the ball back early and not just cruise about and not use this as a gentle introduction. We told them before the game, so many teams approach the pre-season, certainly that first game with the mindset that it’s a gentle intro back into playing football competitively but we never saw it like that.

“One we wanted them to fly about and get on the ball and have an impact on the game and number two we wanted to win the game and make that winning mentality a habit. Pre-season or not that mentality has to start from day one.”