Crewe Alex: We can take heart from Leeds battle, says Ruddy

By ggriffiths

League One

Milton Keynes Dons v Crewe Alexandra (7.45pm)

by Gwyn Griffiths

JOHN Ruddy says Crewe's battling comeback against Leeds at the weekend demonstrates they have nothing to fear from League One's elite.

It doesn't get any easier for Gudjon Thordarson's rejuvenated side this week. They travel to fourth-placed MK Dons tonight and then host third-placed Millwall at the Alexandra Stadium on Saturday.

But the impressive loan keeper believes they have nothing to fear if they can reproduce the spirit of their second-half showing against the former Premier giants.

Trailing 3-0 and down to 10 men after Billy Jones's dismissal, they rallied to leave Leeds sweating on a 3-2 victory.

"We showed a lot of character in that second half," said Ruddy. "We were disappointed to be 3-0 down, but we can take a lot of heart getting back into in the way we did.

"Leeds, MK Dons and Millwall are all in the top five, so you can't get a much tougher run of games than we are in.

"We need to get as many points as we can out of them as it could be decisive at the end of the season. But these are all matches that as players you want to do well in to prove there is not much difference between yourself and players at those top clubs.

"MK Dons have been doing well, but we shouldn't be worried about them as we need to be saying we are one of the form teams in the league at the moment."

Ruddy's arrival from Everton has helped stiffen Crewe's defensive resolve. But after a hectic spell of 12 games in six weeks, the keeper stresses his loan spell has been of mutual benefit too.

Restricted to just one outing at Goodison Park in several seasons, Ruddy hasn't ruled out dropping down the divisions in the summer to gain regular first-team football.

"Crewe has been a good club for me to come to. I came here to play games and I have done," he said.

"Playing so many games in such a short space of time will help me massively.

"The character among the team is second to none and the manager has been brilliant with me.

"But I've had to be on my toes as the midweek games have been coming thick and fast. The way Andy Franks, our fitness coach, has prepared us has shown in our performances.

"But we've had such a lot of games that it will be nice to have a free week."

Meanwhile, Thordarson will be without three of his key players in recent weeks for Crewe's first-ever visit to Stadium:MK.

As well as Jones, who starts his three-game ban for his red card, Steve Schumacher is injured and Dennis Lawrence has departed on international duty with Trinidad and Tobago.

But after heavily criticising the officials in the weekend loss, the Crewe boss stressed: "We just have to get on with it. There were bad incidents in the defeat against Leeds, but I can't dwell on them as it will hurt me at MK.

"We have to learn ourselves and if we are going to be treated differently (by officials) then we have to be more disciplined."

Leeds, themselves, made good some of the damage from the weekend loss yesterday by allowing left-back Alan Sheehan to join Crewe until the end of the season as cover for Jones.

"It was vital I got someone in with a bit more experience than the youngsters I have here," outlined the manager, who accepts it could get even tougher tonight. Roberto Di Matteo's promotion charge has wavered somewhat in recent weeks and his Dons have won just once in their last seven games.

But they thumped Oldham 6-2 on their home patch just over a week ago and are League One's top scorers.

Aaron Wilbraham, with 14 goals to his name, will play as a lone marksman in an established 4-5-1 formation. "I've seen the MK Dons a couple of times and they have a good squad, so there is no coincidence that they are up there," added Thordarson.

"They will fancy their chances of automatic promotion this season, so it will be very, very tough."

Other Crewe Alexandra stories today

Thordarson planning for a future at Gresty Road

Vital statistics v MK Dons