Grado still thinking about Rix

Crewe manager Dario Gradi still appears not quite ready to give mid-fielder Ben Rix the nod to come to Hereford United on-loan.

"Ben started against Swansea and we used him again on Saturday because you know he will come in and not let you down. Ben has been here a long time and he knows what we expect from him," Gradi told the official Crewe Website.

"The youngsters have come in and gone ahead of him. They can just offer that bit extra at the moment in terms of quality. The test is for someone like Ben to come in and push forward and onwards.

"We may soon have Lee and Tony available again and it maybe that Ben may want to go out on loan and get some games under his belt. I would be willing for him to go out on loan to further his career, but I wouldn't mind him staying here because he is such a useful player to have in the squad.

"The young lads have come in and are fit but I still don't expect them to play all the games at their age, so we will need to rely on a few others to come in and perform consistency at some point."

---