Crewe Alexandra manager Steve Davis has said that the prospect of finishing in the League One next season has made his players compete with the best and reach the play-offs position this season. Crewe Alexandra have been the surprise team to make into the play-offs position alongside the likes of Sheffield United. They narrowly made it into the play-offs ahead of Gillingham by finishing two points ahead of them. Due to the fact that they have taken the last play-off position, Crewe Alexandra will be facing one of the favourites to take automatic promotion – Southend United.

However, Steve Davies has said that the prospect of promotion to the second division of English football alone will be enough for his players to perform at the very best in the semifinals. The winner of the semi-final between Crewe Alexandra and Southend United will be facing the winner of the tie between Torquay and Cheltenham Town in the final. The 16 match unbeaten run during the final months of the season saw Crewe Alexandra beat Gillingham to the seventh place in the table. It was astonishing to know that Crewe Alexandra were in the 12th position during the start of March.

“It gave us something to go for. We kept talking about the run we had to go on and we managed to do it. It’s been a magnificent effort all round. I wasn’t a big fan of the play-offs at first, all those years ago when I was at Burnley and we got knocked out by Torquay, who had finished 21 points behind us. We gradually caught those teams. It keeps the middle section of the league going. It keeps it exciting for the fans. And it gives the players a challenge,” Davis said ahead of the semi-final with Southend United.

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