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Artell ready to play with pain

Image: Artell: Unfazed by injured foot

David Artell is hopeful of leading his Crewe team-mates out in Sunday's play-off final despite continuing to nurse a broken foot.

The 31-year-old centre-back missed the first leg of the Railwaymen's semi-final against Southend after suffering a broken metatarsal in training and he was expected to be sidelined for a minimum of six weeks. But the skipper was a surprise inclusion as Alex secured their place in the final at Roots Hall last week and good news from a subsequent x-ray means Artell should be available to battle through the pain barrier once more against Cheltenham at the national stadium. "I've still got two weeks before it's fully healed apparently," he explained. "I had another x-ray on Friday morning after the Southend game to make sure the bone hadn't moved. If the bone had moved it was operation time, but it's still not been displaced. "I'm obviously taking it carefully in training. Everything is looking good at the moment and I'm just praying that it doesn't move in the next few days between now and Wembley."

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