Tomorrow afternoon Crewe Alexandra makes the trip to South Wales to face Newport County at Rodney Parade, the hosts’ squad containing former Alex forward Courtney Baker-Richardson in their ranks.
This Season:
This season sees The Exiles sit in 14th place in the league having won against Doncaster Rovers, Accrington Stanley and Morecambe while they have lost against Cheltenham Town, Port Vale, Swindon Town and Barrow.
They lost against Leyton Orient in the Carabao Cup 1st Round while beating West Ham United’s Under-21s and losing against Cheltenham in the EFL Trophy and sitting 3rd in their group.
Transfers:
They have signed goalkeeper Jacob Carney, defenders Matt Baker, Ciaran Brennan, Anthony Glennon, Joe Thomas and Cameron Evans, midfielders Kai Whitmore, Cameron Antwi, Dan Barton and Armani Babah as well as forwards Oliver Greaves, Michael Spellman, Baker-Richardson, Bobby Kamwa and Hamzad Kargbo. Midfielders Kieron Evans, Noah Mawene and Jamie Miley as well as forward Kyle Hudlin have all joined on season-long loans.
Leaving the club this summer were current Alex forward Omar Bogle, Sam Bowen, Harrison Bright, Joe Day, Declan Drysdale, Jonny Maxted, James Waite, former Alex forward Offrande Zanzala, Scot Bennett, Ryan Delaney and Harry Charsley as all left when their deals expired.
Forward Will Evans joined Mansfield Town for an undisclosed fee while forward Nathan Wood has joined Penybont on loan.
Coaches Thoughts:
Here are the thoughts of the two sets of coaching staff heading into the game:
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 14
Newport Wins: 15
Draws: 16
Biggest Alex Win: 4-0 at the Alexandra Stadium in April 1976
Biggest Newport Win: 7-1 at Rodney Parade in October 1962
Last Meeting
Newport County 1-1 Crewe Alexandra, 29th December 2023
Chris Long opened the scoring for the visitors in the 48th minute before Will Evans equalised for the hosts 16 minutes later.
Crewe: Booth; O’Riordan, Offord, Williams; Billington, White (Cooney 77), Adebisi, Williams; Rowe (Nevitt 84), Baker-Richardson, Long (Tracey 64)
Booked: n/a
Newport: Townsend; Payne, Clarke (Bondswell 63), Baker, Delaney, McLoughlin; Charsley (Waite 63), Bennett, Morris (Wood 90); Evans, Palmer-Houlden
Booked: n/a
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: Rhys Taylor
Defenders: Paul Bignot, Darren Carr, Mickey Demetriou, Billy Jones, Tom Thornton, Harry Worley
Midfielders: Terry Lees, Les Riggs
Forwards: Courtney Baker-Richardson, Omar Bogle, Dave Gwyther, Jack Holland, John Lythgoe, Nicky Maynard, Harry McKirdy, John Moore, Jamie Moralee, Dean Morgan, Billy Stark, Billy Waters, Offrande Zanzala
Officials:
The EFL have announced that Alan Young is tomorrow’s referee with Declan O’Shea and Grzegorz Kornasiewicz assisting him and Kevin Morris the fourth official. Young has refereed the following Crewe games in the last 5 years:
- Crewe Alexandra 6-0 Morecambe (4th August 2018) – Kirk, Nicholls (2), Jones (2), Porter
- Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Walsall (17th August 2019) – Nolan
- Gillingham 4-1 Crewe Alexandra (26th January 2021) – Porter
- Stevenage 1-0 Crewe Alexandra (14th March 2023)
- Crewe Alexandra 0-3 Barrow (22nd December 2023)
