Tomorrow afternoon Crewe Alexandra host Salford City at the Alexandra Stadium, the visitors’ playing squad containing former Alex Academy graduate Matty Lund and loanee midfielder Josh Austerfield.
This Season:
This season sees the Ammies sit in 16th place in the league having won against MK Dons, Cheltenham Town and AFC Wimbledon, they have drawn against Bradford City, Chesterfield and Tranmere Rovers while they have lost against Port Vale, Walsall, Newport County and Grimsby Town.
They lost against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup 1st Round while they lost to both Vale and Wrexham in the EFL Trophy to sit 4th in their group.
Transfers:
They have signed goalkeeper Jamie Jones, defenders Tom Edwards, James Chester and Haji Mnoga, midfielders Daniel Chesters, Jon Taylor, Ben Woodburn, Austerfield and Jai Curran-Nicholls while forwards Cole Stockton and Hakeeb Adelakun complete their permanent signings. Goalkeeper Matthew Young, defender Stephan Negru, midfielder Tyrese Fornah and fowards Kylian Kouassi and Francis Okoronkwo have all joined on season-long loans.
Leaving the club this summer were Adrian Mariappa, Djavan Pedro, Joel Torrance, Elliot Watt, Theo Vassell, Stevie Mallan and Connor McLennan all left when their deals expired as well as the retiring Matt Smith.
Goalkeeper Alex Cairns and forward Callum Hendry joined Leeds United and MK Dons respectively for undisclosed fees while a number of players have been loaned out this season.
Coaches Thoughts:
Here are the thoughts of the two sets of coaching staff heading into the game:
There was no comments from the Salford coaching staff at time of publishing.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 2
Salford Wins: 4
Draws: 0
Biggest Alex Win: 4-1 at Alexandra Stadium in September 2019
Biggest Salford Win: 3-0 at Moor Lane in August 2022
Last Meeting
Crewe Alexandra 2-3 Salford City, 27th January 2024
Matt Smith opened the scoring for the visitors in the 4th minute before goals from Aaron Rowe (44) and Elliott Nevitt (45) saw the Alex into a half-time lead. Smith would add his second 10 minutes after the break before completing his hat-trick 5 minutes from time.
Crewe: Booth; Billington (Cooney 63), Offord, Demetriou, Adebisi; Thomas, Austerfield (Leigh 89); Tracey, Rowe (Holicek 81), Long (Baker-Richardson 63); Nevitt
Booked: Rowe 27
Salford: Cairns; John (Shephard 46), Vassell, Tilt, Garbutt; Watson (Lund 75), Watt, Luamba (N’Mai 46); Bolton, Smith, McAleny (Hendry 75)
Booked: John 23, Garbutt 40, Lund 89, Hendry 90
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, Josh Austerfield, Matty Lund, Liam Nolan, Michael O’Connor
Forwards: n/a
Officials:
The EFL have announced that Sunny Singh Gill is tomorrow’s referee with Ollie Williams and Darren Wilding assisting him and Niall Felton the fourth official. Gill has refereed the following Crewe games in the last 5 years:
- Bradford City 0-0 Crewe Alexandra (27th August 2022)
- Crewe Alexandra 0-2 Doncaster Rovers (6th May 2024)
