No influx of players in summer - Crewe boss Bell

Crewe Alexandra manager Lee Bell says he does not expect to be making a lot of permanent signings in the summer as they prepare for another season in League Two.

Despite a number of key players missing large parts of the campaign through injury - including on-loan striker Emre Tezgel - Bell kept the Alex in contention for a play-off place.

Those hopes were only ended with defeat by MK Dons in their third-from-final game of the season.

Bell has already said he wants more options in his squad next season but knows that will come from temporary signings.

"There's not going to be an influx of players. The loan market, again, is going to be important to us," Bell told BBC Radio Stoke.

"That is going to be a fact. People know that and it's worked out really well for us."

Bell said he has told technical director Josh Kennard the types of permanent signings he would like to make, adding Kennard "will work on that to try and help us in that area".

In the meantime, Bell has been dealing with the players whose deals expire next month and said their futures will become clearer after the weekend.

"We've been having conversations for some time - the last couple of months," he said.

"You're not making decisions but you're just trying to look at what it could look like.

"I'll speak to them on Sunday. I think it's important that you tell the players as soon as possible what their futures look like.

"They might tell us that their future lies somewhere else, I don't know. But it's important that we give them what we think we're going to be doing moving forward as soon as possible.

"They've got their lives and families to consider as well."

With the final game of the season against automatic-promotion hopefuls Cambridge United, Bell said the match could have "massive consequences" for the their chances of going up.

The U's could finish second, third or get pipped for automatic promotion by Salford or Notts County.

Bell said, despite the availability issues in the camp, Saturday's game at the Mornflake Stadium is a chance for his team to end the season memorably.

"We're not in a position to feel our strongest squad but it's an opportunity for our players to try to impress and leave a good final fingerprint on the season," he said.

"Try to get the fans going home happy with a little bit of optimism in terms of what next season could look like."