DAVE Artell's warm-up selections have again been hit by the surge in Covid-19 cases with Will Jaaskelainen and Owen Dale the latest players forced to self-isolate.

The keeper and attacker are out of tonight's friendly at Oldham (K.O 7pm) after they were contacted by the Track and Trace system.

The "pingdemic" has also accounted for new recruit Shaun MacDonald and Chris Porter missing several of Crewe's pre-season games, although both were back in action for Saturday's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest. Assistant manager Kenny Lunt has also had a spell of self-isolation.

Injuries have also taken their toll on the Alex's preparations for the 2021/22 campaign, which starts a week on Saturday with the visit of newly-promoted Cheltenham Town.

Defenders Luke Offord and Donervon Daniels have been injured for part of the pre-season programme, although both are now fit again, while striker Mikael Mandron has returned to training this week.

Meanwhile, after the problem of Tommy Lowery's contract wrangle, the club are pleased to report success guarding their assets with pen and paper after fellow midfielder Oli Finney signed a new deal which could keep him at Crewe until 2024.

Finney would not have been out of contract under his previous deal, signed last September, until 2023. But the player, whose performances and goals from the middle of the park were a boon until he was sidelined by a cruel leg break at Shrewsbury in February, has been happy to add a year to his new terms.

Lowery, on the other hand, is a free agent next summer, when aged 24 Crewe could lose him for no fee unless there is a resolution in the current impasse. Lowery has not played any part in the pre-season games.

Finney told the club's web site: "It will give me more confidence to go out and try and do what I did last season. It [the injury] was a nightmare for me; I was doing well, the team was doing well and to get an injury which kept me out until the last game was hard. But it's pushed me on in the off-season to get ready for the new season."

• Crewe have announced that last Tuesday's Ashton Hulme charity match against Stoke City raised £28,500 to support the young Academy keeper.