Tomorrow afternoon sees Crewe Alexandra head to Salford City for the third game of the season. So far this season, Salford have beaten Mansfield Town and drawn at Swindon Town in the league while they lost at Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.
Last Season:
Last season saw Town finish in 10th place in the league with 19 wins, 13 draws and 14 defeats.
They lost to Chesterfield in the FA Cup 2nd Round, lost to Derby County on penalties in the Carabao Cup 1st Round and were knocked out of the group stage in the EFL Trophy.
Transfers:
This summer has seen the club make 9 permanent signings. Defenders Josh O’Brien, Ryan Leak and Richard Nartey are joined by midfielders Elliot Watt, Stevie Mallan, Adam Porter and Elliot Simoes while forwards Callum Hendry and Colin Oppong complete the signings.
They have allowed 17 players to leave the club permanently.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 1
Salford Wins: 1
Draws: 0
Biggest Alex Win: 4-1 at Alexandra Stadium in September 2019
Biggest Salford Win: 3-1 at Moor Lane in December 2019
Last Meeting:
Salford City 3-1 Crewe Alexandra, 26th December 2019
Richie Towell opened the scoring in the 7th minute for the hosts before Brandon Thomas-Asante doubled the lead 5 minutes later. Harry Pickering got one back for Crewe with 8 minutes left before a Ryan Wintle own goal sealed the win for the Ammies.
Crewe: Jaaskelainen; Ng, Mbulu (Jones 46), Hunt, Pickering; Lowery, Wintle, Finney (Ainley 65); Powell, Anene, Kirk (Dale 65)
Salford: Neal; Threlkeld, Hogan, Burgess, Touray; Jones (Whitehead 59), Towell, Conway, Jervis; Thomas-Asante (Piergianni 79), Rooney (Armstrong 75)
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: n/a
Defenders: Martyn Booty, Michael Nottingham, Harry Worley
Midfielders: Chris Atkinson, Dan Gardner, Matty Lund, Liam Nolan, Michael O’Connor
Forwards: n/a
Officials:
The officials for this game have been announced here with Craig Hicks the referee, David Avent and Christopher Husband are his assistants with Akil Howson the fourth official. Hicks has refereed the following Crewe games in the previous 5 years:
- Crewe Alexandra 1-4 Lincoln City (11th November 2017) – Raynes
- Cambridge United 3-1 Crewe Alexandra (30th December 2017) – Dagnall
- Stevenage 0-1 Crewe Alexandra (20th October 2018) – Bowery
- Exeter City 1-0 Crewe Alexandra (15th December 2018)
- Grimsby Town 2-0 Crewe Alexandra (5th May 2019)
- Northampton Town 4-1 Crewe Alexandra (16th November 2019) – Porter
- Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Crewe Alexandra (24th October 2020) – Kirk, Pickering
- Bristol Rovers 0-1 Crewe Alexandra (1st May 2021) – Ainley
- AFC Wimbledon 3-2 Crewe Alexandra (23rd November 2021) – Long, Porter
Opposition View:
I asked Salford City supporter Andy Thurston for his thoughts going into the game.
How would you describe last season and the first couple of games in this one?
Last season, the 1st half wasn’t the best inconsistent and massively underachieved, 2nd half was much better and coincided with better training facilities and with some really good business in the transfer window bringing in Watson and Smith made us really competitive in the run-in but we fell short at the end.
The start to this season in the league has been much better we look sharper and more comfortable on the ball Neil Wood, has changed our style of play a full 180° I’ve not seen a long ball once yet this season, I’ve blocked all memories of Bolton away in the cup so can’t comment on that ha-ha.
The right-hand side of Midfield/Defence.
What do you think the team will be for the game?
What do you think the team will be for the game? Pretty much unchanged from the 1st 2 games with only Shephard missing through injury, the first 2 games we’ve controlled the play so no need for any changes for me.
Who is the danger man for yourselves?
Callum and Asante up top have linked up really well so far and should do well v Crewe who like to play as well leaving space for both teams to enjoy.
What do you think is a realistic aim for Salford this season?
Promotion, top 3 but I’d take a playoff spot and trip to Wembley again.
