da luck：
da bwin： After the freezing temperatures handed a week off to all but two clubs in League Two, it is time to look ahead to the forthcoming weekend with the players all rested up and ready to get back into the action.
For Crewe Alexandra, it is a short-trip up the A500 to Burslem to meet rivals Port Vale, but such is the grandiose proximity between the two clubs and the one-upmanship between the two fan-bases, you would be forbidden to name this a “derby” at all.
After the game with Accrington Stanley was postponed on Saturday, David Artell will serve his one-match suspension at Vale Park while Adam Dugdale will begin his triumvirate of absences which will leave this Crewe side a little thin on the ground. Steve Davis has hinted at delving into the emergency loan window when it re-opens on Wednesday, especially vital after Artell compounded his ban with a hamstring-strain. Davis had tried to lure Southampton youngster Jack Saville on a temporary basis before the transfer window closed last week, but was left frustrated after the centre-half opted to re-join Barnet on loan.
In the meantime, it is looking likely that Davis will be fielding the make-shift back four of Danny Shelley at right-back, Carl Martin to be partnered by utility man Harry Davis in the centre while Matt Tootle, a right-back by trade, will file across to left-back. This is of course, if the game does get the green-light ahead of adverse weather conditions that has seen the majority of the country blanketed in snow and ice. Port Vale ground staff have already alerted caution as they endeavour to rid the pitch of frost. However with temperatures forecast to drop below -3 in Burslem later in the week, all preparation work may be in vein and both teams may have to settle for an unforeseen two week break.
Such news will not be ideal as re-arranged games will cause the fixture list to become more packed as the season reaches its concluding run-in. It will be of some consolation that both clubs can work at getting some members of the squad back to full-fitness. Crewe’s Lee Bell and Shaun Miller and Vale’s Lee Collins and Gareth Owen are all in the recovery process but should be back within weeks. With striker Miller still feeling his way back into contention following his hamstring-caused absence, Crewe will not face such selection problems in attack however, as Ajay Leitch-Smith will push Greg Pearson for selection while the pace and trickery of Nick Powell and Byron Moore will aim to cause a relatively immobile Vale back for some problems on the flanks.
Such is the intensity of close-rivalries, Crewe will have to summon up some of the new found steel that has been instilled into the side by Steve Davis. This has seen them win six out of eleven games, to stand up to a Port Vale outfit that will be a reflection of Micky Adams’ tenacity and hunger to succeed, which manifested itself in a rivalry with Dario Gradi that added some spice to the game in recent years. Two controversial penalty calls, one for and one against Crewe, have marred successive trips to Staffordshire for the Railwaymen in recent years and the two managers have been embroiled in a war of words in the aftermath of each game. The meeting at Gresty Road earlier in the season was typically tense and nervy affair with the two teams failing to be separated in a stale 1-1 draw.
This will be the latest big hurdle in Davis’ reign that is barely two months into its infancy, to go to Vale Park, with the Valiants still managing to defy financial unrest and boardroom discord to pick up enough points to post them eleventh in the table, two points ahead of a rejuvenated Crewe, with his side ruptured by injuries and suspensions. All in preparation for a fixture that will pitch them against a team that will play at a high-tempo and aim to disrupt the passing flow, by common-consensus the style of team that has sparked Crewe’s down-fall in recent years.
Steve Davis will battle in the loan-market in order to secure a team to put out on Saturday, the Vale ground-staff will battle to ensure we have game on, while Micky Adams will be preparing and motivating his side to do combat on the pitch in the only way he knows how. These will be the only battles though; on the pitch, as this is not a derby game, remember. Expect fireworks.
Expected Crewe line-up (4-4-2); Phillips, Shelley, Martin, Davis, Tootle, Weswood, Murphy, Powell, Moore, Leitch-Smith, Pearson.
By Adam Gray
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