DAVE Artell admits his disappointment that fans' 'pilot' games are off but is glad that football can continue behind-closed-doors.

Cabinet office minister Michael Gove revealed today that plans to allow supporters to watch live sport events in England from October 1 were on hold.

Previous 'pilot' events held to assess safety and risks, restricted to 1,000 people, have included a number of football fixtures, including seven in the EFL last weekend.

More were planned and Crewe had applied for Saturday's visit of the MK Dons to be included in the monitoring scheme.

But with the country facing a new raft of Covid measures from Prime Minister Boris Johnson later today amid rising coronavirus infection rates, Gove says the 'pilot' matches are being "paused".

"It's disappointing for everyone. I think the politicians want the fans back in, but unfortunately that is not going to be the case," said the Crewe manager.

"The second wave seems to be on its way. We will suck it up and go forward and do what we can.

"We are happy that we are still playing games and we are not being told to lock the doors for a month or two."

A sequence of back-to-back defeats at the hands of Charlton and Hull have ushered in the new League One campaign, but the Crewe boss stressed: "No-one is dressing it up, no-one is saying we are relegation fodder. We are confident that if we keep improving then the results will come."

With new recruit Donervon Daniels expected to return to training today after a pre-season injury, Artell says he has cleared the air with some of the club's other centre halves who have dropped to the fringes of the squad.

Eddie Nolan, a key figure in recent seasons, hasn't made the bench for both the League One games.

Artell said: "We've got six centre halves and I've said to a couple of them that I can't promise them first-team football. The ball is in their court, I am trying to do the right thing about the players.

"They might not like what they have heard, but we are giving them the opportunity to do something about it rather than maybe play one, or three, games all season."

Striker Chris Porter is still under treatment and is due to have an injection later in the week. Young defender Rio Adebisi is to undergo a scan before stepping up his recovery work, while Daniel Powell has completed some light training.