Crewe Alexandra vs Fleetwood Town preview - Guthrie back in Alex frame

Posted Friday, February 13, 2015 by PA

Jon Guthrie could return to the Crewe squad to face Fleetwood, but he may find it hard to break into the starting line-up.

Defender Guthrie has played 21 times this season, but none of those outings have come since mid-January after he sustained a knee injury, and although he is back in training with a view to being involved in this fixture, the fact the Alex have won back-to-back contests means Steve Davis may stick with a winning formula.

The only change Davis made last time was to replace Lauri Dalla Valle with Marcus Haber up top as the former is being treated with caution following his return from an ankle problem last month.

Youngsters Ryan Colclough (hernia) and Fraser Murdoch (knee) played for the under-21s on Wednesday while Chris Atkinson (knee) is also close to a comeback.

Fleetwood may also be tempted to name a similar starting XI.

The Cod Army defeated Barnsley on Tuesday night, in what proved to be Danny Wilson's last game in charge at Oakwell, as on-loan striker Liam McAlinden repaid the faith shown in him by scoring on his return to the starting line-up.

Attacking midfield pair Nick Haughton and Antoni Sarcevic both shook off knocks to feature in the squad and Graham Alexander's squad is in relatively rude health.

However, he does remain without full-back Danny Andrew (knee) and striker Jamille Matt (leg).