Crewe Alexandra look set to name first year Apprentice Nick Powell in their first-team squad for the visit of Premiership new boys Blackpool this evening.
Still only 16, the youngster who has already been capped by England at Under-17 level only joined up with Alex on a full-time basis 4 weeks ago.
However. his form for the Youth team has seen him promoted to the substitutes bench for the visit of Ian Holloway’s Seasiders tonight and Alex boss Dario Gradi hopes the fans will enjoy watching one of the Club’s latest graduates.
“Nick will be in the squad for tonight’s game and will get a run out at some point, probably half an hour,” he said.
“We wanted to play 4-3-3 but I am short on midfielders and considered reverting back to 4-4-2 but with Nick playing well lately we decided to give him a chance. We will see if he can come in and do that job in the three.”
“Nick is an attacking player but he has the knack of being able to steal possession and intercept things as well. He does it on a regular basis and it is no coincidence. He can also score goals and can go behind the striker.”
He added: “The fans may know about him from the publicity the young lads have had but this may be the first opportunity they have to watch him play. Hopefully, that will attract a few more to the ground this evening.”
