Steve says Clayton's immediate future is here with us

Steve Davis remains hopeful that his young forward Max Clayton will follow the likes of Harry Davis, Matt Tootle and Ben Garratt by committing his long-term future to the club. The Crewe management have held ‘gentle talks’ with the England youth International and his father, our former player Paul Clayton, about offering him a new and improved deal beyond his current deal which takes him through to the summer of 2014.

Davis is understandably encouraging the 18-year-old to sign a new deal to follow his former England team-mate Nick Powell into the top flight when the time is right.  The club are set to hold further talks at the completion of the season.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “Max is still a young player and is still learning. He has come into the side this season and done okay. We just need him to add goals on a consistent basis. He came on against Bradford in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and scored a great header and had another disallowed, so we know he has goals in him.

“He is still adjusting to the level, like a few of them, and he will master it. We will just be cautious with him to protect him. We will push him on and not play him when he is not scoring or is low on confidence. We are careful with our young players and protect their confidence.

He added: “We have had gentle talks with Max and his dad and at that moment in time he didn’t want to consider a new contract. I’m sure we will sit down with them again because we wouldn’t want his contract to run down too much. He has year left after this season, so we will resume them at the end of the season.”