Tezgel set to miss 'a couple of months' - Bell

Crewe boss Lee Bell says top scorer Emre Tezgel's ankle injury is "not great" but is hopeful he will only be out for a "couple of months" following the striker's return to Stoke City for rehabilitation.

The 20-year-old had been in superb recent form for the Alex scoring in each of his last five league games, taking his tally to the season to 13.

Tezgel was forced to come off half an hour into Crewe's 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers on 19 December and has gone back to his parent club to work on his recovery.

"It's not a great injury that he's had, he was obviously flying," Bell told BBC Radio Stoke.

"He's gone back to Stoke, and with the facilities and manpower they've got, they can speed things up.

"We're hopeful it's not going to be months and months - maybe a couple, around that mark."

Tezgel became Stoke's youngest ever first-team player when he made his debut aged 16, in January 2022 and, after waiting for his chance to start regularly for Crewe, has gone from strength to strength under Bell and his coaching staff.

He scored on his first start - in the Carabao Cup - before hitting a hat-trick in the Vertu Trophy in September and claimed a first league treble in the 3-2 league win over Grimsby the following month.

Bell said he has been in regular contact with Tezgel and is hoping the striker can return to the Mornflake Stadium as soon as possible.

"I've spoken to him and he told me his ankle looks more like an ankle now," Bell said.

"So hopefully the swelling can come out and he can progress. You can see his talent and he's obviously going to be a big miss for us."

With the transfer window now open, Bell said he would like to get "a couple more" players in following the arrival of defender Alfie Pond on loan from Wolves.

"We've got some players who are not getting the football they want and there's some conversations to be had," he said.

"One player's already come and spoken to me so we'll look at that situation. But it will be a likely quieter window from our perspective."