DAVE Artell says it is important that football carries on amid the national lockdown as the Crewe boss prepares his players for action at Rochdale this weekend.

Both clubs wanted to re-arrange the League One clash - cancelled on December 29 because of Covid-19 issues at Dale - to this Saturday (January 9), which would otherwise be blank for both because of FA Cup exits.

The EFL has now confirmed the fixture at the Crown Oil Arena (K.O 3pm).

Elite sport is being allowed to continue under the new nationwide restrictions announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson last night.

There have been limited calls from within the football industry to pause both the Premier League and EFL programme.

Artell pointed out: "If you take that away you are going to really harm a lot of people's mental well being and you are going to put a £5bn industry on its knees.

"It is one of the biggest industries in the country with all the other businesses too that rely on it. If they are going to stop getting paid then there will be a big black hole in Chancellor Rishi Sunak's pocket."

The EFL instructed all member clubs to start testing players and staff this week; previously arrangements in the lower leagues have been ad hoc and governed by costs.

Artell believes the risks of virus transmission have been minimised by the Covid protocols clubs have been following.

"We're leading very restricted working lives. But if we pass the virus on in an outdoor environment where the risk is minimal then we would accept that football has to stop.

"The players are coming in and going straight out onto the training pitch, they have a sandwich in their own cars and so on.

"The restrictions and the conditions that the EFL has put in place, and I understand they will get stricter for us, means it can carry on without making the pandemic worse.

"If it means we have to get tested to carry on while some clubs are struggling, and we don't have a nanny state in football, so then that is what we have got to do.

"There's people relying on us to get through this and we've got to make sure that fans our served by our industry."

Meanwhile, the Alex boss revealed he has opened talks with summer signings Mikael Mandron and Omar Beckles to extend their contracts after the significant impact both have made up top and at the back respectively already.

He also wished Offrande Zanzala well after the striker had his contract cancelled by mutual consent.

The former Accrington frontman, who also joined in the summer, had grown unhappy about his lack of involvement and has his eyes set on a fresh start elsewhere.

With Mandron securing the central striking role, Zanzala was restricted to just one start in the league although he made the starting XI for all of Crewe's four Papa John's Trophy fixtures, scoring his only goal for the club against Shrewsbury in November.

"We wish Ozzie all the best, he's a good kid and he'll have a future in the game because he works his socks off," said Artell.

"It just wasn't quite right for us, we brought him in as our first signing of the summer because he was too good to turn down.

"But we then brought Mikael in and Chris Porter signed (a new contract). I understand where he is coming from. I'm not going to stand in anyone's way and I admire his determination to want to go and play football wherever he goes to next."