'PEOPLE WROTE US OFF BUT THEY ARE STARTING TO TAKE NOTE NOW'

CHRIS Long made a flying start to the season with Crewe Alexandra – and now he just wants to get back on the pitch and play his part again.

- John Lyons

The 28-year-old Merseysider bagged seven league goals in 15 games before a thigh injury at the end of last month sent him to the physio’s room. In his absence, Crewe have maintained their League Two promotion challenge – the Railwaymen were fifth heading into yesterday’s home game against Doncaster – and knocked Derby out of the FA Cup.

“It’s totally frustrating especially when the team is doing well,” the former Everton and Burnley forward told The FLP. “It would be much better if I was on the pitch with the lads, but at least it’s a pleasure to watch them.”

Long hopes to be back in action by mid-December, so his patience won’t be tested for much longer. In any case, he’s already well versed in the ups and downs of professional football.

In his formative Everton days, he had loans with MK Dons and Brentford. At Burnley, he had temporary spells at Fleetwood, Bolton and Northampton. There were permanent stints at Fleetwood and Blackpool before he crossed the border to join Motherwell.

He’s packed plenty into his career and it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the former England U20 international.

“I was at Everton for 15 years and my loan spells were really good,” he said. “I thought I would take my chances at Burnley, but it was a totally different philosophy, different to what I was used to.

“When I got released by Burnley (in 2018), I couldn’t come to terms with it. I was 23 and a bit cocky. I went to Fleetwood and fell out with Joey (Barton, manager) and then had a spell at Blackpool.