Crewe Alexandra have rewarded three of their promising young players with new contracts at Gresty Road.

Midfielders David Vaughan, Lee Bell and Ben Rix have all been given 12-month extensions to existing deals, which still had a year to run, after becoming established in the first-team squad.

"We told all three lads we'd review their wages at Christmas as we felt that was the right thing to do and they have all had their contracts extended," manager Dario Gradi told the club's website.

All three 20-year-olds are graduates of Crewe's legendary academy system.

Vaughan and Rix both broke into the first-team last season, while Bell made his league debut on the opening day of the current campaign.