Alex Morris verdict as Crewe Alex open with win at Nantwich Town

Crewe manager Alex Morris was encouraged by the performances of new signings Rod McDonald and Courtney Baker-Richardson as his team opened their pre-season programme with a 3-0 win at Nantwich Town in the Barry Daly Memorial Trophy on Saturday.

Both started the game along with fellow new arrival Kelvin Mellor, but while defender Mellor is familiar to fans from his first spell at the club, this was their first chance to see centre half McDonald and striker Baker-Richardson who have signed on frees from Carlisle and Newport County respectively.

Morris told the club: “Rod does what it says on the tin with him. He clears out of his own box, he makes good decisions on the ball in terms of whether to maintain possession or whether to play a bit longer. That comes with experience. He is 30 years old now and has had plenty of Football League appearances under his belt. So, he has gained that over the years and that will be a huge plus for us.

“Courtney did fine. He plays off the cuff quite a lot but we are trying to use that ability and try to formulate that into our structure. We certainly don’t want to take that away from him because that element of surprise is helpful in our position.

“If the opposition don’t know what he is going to do then it is certainly going to help us in areas of the pitch that we can’t get the ball to him.

“But in other areas, he needs to conform to the way we pay, just like Kelvin Mellor, Rod McDonald, Charlie Colkett and Conor Thomas do. They are new players and there are ways and means that we want to play this season. They are getting there.

“In terms of Courtney and Rodney, they are further along the line than the others because they have spent longer out on the grass, Kelvin aside. But they