Alex Morris looks to season ahead as Crewe hold strong West Brom side

Crewe boss Alex Morris was pleased with his team’s efforts as they held a strong West Brom 1-1 in a pre-season friendly at the Mornflake Stadium.

John Swift’s 54th-minute opener had put the Championship side in front but Dan Agyei ran through to level on 73 to give the Alex something to show for their efforts.

Morris, who is preparing for his first full season in charge, wants plenty of industry and commitment from his side in League Two so was pleased to see them lay down a marker for that, particularly as he has players missing through injury.

He said: “I thought the group of players we put out there were absolutely magnificent. They put in an incredible effort physically. We knew we weren’t going to have as much of the ball as West Brom, they are a top end Championship side, so this was another step up from the Barnsley game.

“Typically in these games you are able to make changes at half time or an hour in. We didn’t have that luxury, we have a lot of players missing at the minute through niggles and injuries that are either short term or medium term.

“So, it is what it is. We are asking a lot of those players to play 90 minutes which we wouldn’t recommend at this stage of the season. But they put in an incredible effort. They didn’t allow West Brom to penetrate through us. Yes, there were moments during the game when they got around us, you can’t stop everything. If you are stopping the middle of the pitch, you are going to struggle to stop the outsides because there is only so much space you can kill.

“That means you have to then defend your box well, which we did. I was really pleased with the fact we had responded so positively when we went a goal down. That bodes well for the season ahead.”

Morris set his side