Crewe Alexandra vs Oldham Athletic AFC preview - Leigh should boost Crewe

Posted Friday, March 20, 2015 by PA

Crewe are banking on having Greg Leigh available again to face Oldham.

The left-back, who is on loan from Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City, has been missing from the Alex's previous two fixtures due to a shin injury sustained in their most recent win over Scunthorpe, a game which Leigh scored in.

Striker Marcus Haber will play his final match before linking up with Canada again for an international call-up which could rule him out of both the Sheffield United and Crawley fixtures.

Ryan Colclough (hernia and Achilles) last week played 45 minutes for the club's Under-21s, Matt Tootle (ankle) could be back for the last half-a-dozen fixtures and Ben Garratt (broken leg) may feature before the campaign ends too.

Goalkeeper Jake Kean is unlikely to feature for Oldham at Gresty Road.

The on-loan Blackburn shot-stopper was forced off in the second half of Latics' 3-1 home loss to MK Dons on Tuesday night and with major swelling still around his knee, teenager Joel Coleman is in line to make his full debut between the sticks.

Defender Anthony Gerrard, who signed from Huddersfield on Thursday, should make his bow for Dean Holden's injury-depleted side while club captain Adam Lockwood returns having served a one-game suspension.

Holden's casualty list is still lengthy, though, as it includes Amari Morgan-Smith, Jacob Mellis, George Elokobi and Joseph Mills (all hamstring), as well as Liam Kelly (calf), Dominic Poleon (shoulder) and James Wilson (calf).