Crewe Alexandra Manager Dario Gradi believes that Academy graduates Danny Shelley and Ashley Westwood will learn a great deal from Saturday’s derby defeat to Port Vale.
Both youngsters were withdrawn in the second half as Alex were eventually beaten 2-1 by their local neighbours however, both were in the side on merit having performed well over the previous few weeks.
After the match, Gradi said that both Westwood (pictured, top) and Shelley (pictured, below) had ‘wilted’ late on in the derby, but insists that they will learn from the experience.
Speaking to the Club’s official website, Gradi said;
“Shelley missed the entire pre-season and has only just come back into the reckoning, so we wouldn’t expect him to play game-after-game anyway.”
“I am not worried about Westy. He made a mistake late on in the game but we will learn from that. He knows and doesn’t need telling on the situation he found himself in on Saturday.”
“Everyone makes mistakes but the important thing is how they respond to that and improve on it to eradicate them in the future. Westy will learn and go again. I don’t expect anything else from him and he will only get better.”
Gradi added:
“They made mistakes but then I find the kids make less mistakes than those who we bring in from elsewhere. In reality, our kids know the game and work hard to rectify their errors. I am sure they will have learnt a great deal from Saturday and use it to their advantage in the future.”
