Crewe manager Dario Gradi has thrown down the gauntlet to Ben Rix and told him to show that he is ready to be a regular starter once again.

The skilful 22-year-old made just a single start for Alex last year after an injury-plagued year and was farmed out on loan to Conference strugglers Scarborough and Bournemouth.

He is now due back at Gresty Road for pre-season training as the Railwaymen look to regroup after relegation from the Championship, and Gradi is ready to have another look at the player who made such a promising start to his Alex career before losing his way somewhat.

"He's back in training and working very hard," Gradi said. "It will be interesting to see where he is up to when we start back and whether or not he has moved on a bit.

"He is unfortunate in the respect that he isn't built that well physically. But he has played a lot of games and I know he was happy to be playing again (for Bournemouth) at the end of last season.

"What he has to do now is go and achieve. If he is going to play in one of those wide positions then he needs to score goals, or if he is going to play that playmaker role then he needs to be stronger," he told the club's official website.