After midweek disappointment Town are quickly back in action on Saturday when they face another tough test with the visit of Crewe Alexandra.
Our opponents
Crewe come into the game in fifth place, just a single point off the automatic positions although a 2-0 defeat to Stockport County saw them drop from second spot. Prior to the loss they had been beaten just once in their past nine games.
Away from home Alex have posted a return of nine points from seven games, winning two, drawing three and losing two. There has been no shortage of goals in these games either, 32 in total including 18 over their past three fixtures on the road.
Last season
2022/23 saw the first meetings between the two sides following Crewe’s relegation the season before.
Town went down to a 3-0 reversal at The Mornflake Stadium as two set-piece goals on the stroke of half-time from Dan Agyei and Kelvin Mellor proved decisive before Courtney Baker-Richardson added the final flourish with fifteen minutes to go.
In the return fixture Town went 2-0 in front with goals from Jack Muldoon and Kazeem Olaigbe either side of half-time but an Agyei goal reduced the deficit inside of the final ten minutes before Tariq Uwakwe struck in the final minute to rescue a point.
The man in charge
Lee Bell is in charge for the Railwaymen, having stepped up from assistant manager to replace Alex Morris early last season.
It is Bell’s first managerial position after a playing career that saw him have to spells at Alex as well as representing Macclesfield Town, Mansfield Town and Burton Albion.
Bell has a win percentage of 35.3% from his 51 games in charge so far.
Ones to watch
There are plenty of goals in the Crewe line-up this season. Leading the way is Chris Long with seven, closely followed by Courtney Baker-Richardson with six.
Former Tranmere man Elliott Nevitt has five goals, as has the summer capture from Newport County, Mickey Demetriou, who has also added three assists.
Jack Powell has four assists from midfield after arriving from Crawley in the summer with youngster Joel Tabenier impressing from midfield alongside him.
History
The club was formed back in 1877, reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in 1888 and became a founding member of the Football League Second Division in 1892.
They were then invited to join the new Third Division North in 1921, where they would remain for almost four decades, then being placed in the new Fourth Division before finally earning a promotion in 1962/63.
Relegation was swift however and the club spent the next two decades in the lower reaches of the league before a change in fortunes under Dario Gradi, who oversaw the club for over 20 years, leading Alex to promotion to the third tier before reaching the second tier in 1997, where they stayed for eight of the next nine seasons.
During Gradi’s time in charge the club saw the likes of David Platt, Neil Lennon, Rob Jones, Craig Hignett and Dean Ashton all make moves to top-flight clubs.
The club fell though would fall back down the divisions, dropping to the bottom division in 2009, before subsequently bouncing between League One and League Two with last season ending in their relegation.
Team news
Simon Weaver is without any fresh injury concerns heading into the game, though Saturday will come too soon for Liam Gibson to play any part.
