Crewe Alexandra

The Railwaymen will be looking to get back on track having endured a miserable campaign that ended in an inevitable relegation. They finished the season with 17 defeats in their last 20 matches and manager David Artell was finally put out of his misery after a year of turmoil. He had been fighting a losing battle since the previous summer with several key players leaving the club. He was forced to blood a whole succession of youngsters with his squad ravaged by injury and even lost two players who announced their retirements shortly after signing for the club. It was a hopeless cause and Alex Morris, whose permanent appointment as manager was confirmed in the summer, has a big job on his hands. Several loanees have returned to their parent clubs whilst he has lost two key players in midfield playmaker Tom Lowery and striker Mikael Mandron, with the latter turning down the offer of a new deal. The capture of striker Courtney Baker-Richardson from Newport County is something of a coup, although he has yet to prove he is a Football League player, whilst Kelvin Mellor and Rod McDonald from Carlisle United and Charlie Colkett and Conor Thomas from Cheltenham Town are steady if unspectacular additions. There is probably more excitement in the emergence of more young talent in centre-back Connor O’Riordan and Zac Williams and midfielder Charlie Finney, brother of team-mate Oliver. Morris will need to find the right mix of youth and experience if they are to recover from last season’s disappointment.