Old boy Tony backing reds to bounce back

Last updated : 08 January 2004 By Simon Turner

Naylor in his Cheltenham days
Tony Naylor was signed by Dario Gradi from non-league Droylsden in 1990, and went on to score sixty-six goals for Crewe before moving to neighbours Port Vale for £200,000 in 1994.

The 36-year-old striker was part of Telford United's squad who recorded a defiant 1-0 win at Gresty Road last Saturday, coming on for twenty minutes as a substitute.

He had some kind words for his former club: "I regard Crewe as my home. It's where I started and I've got a hell of a lot to thank this club for. I enjoy every moment that I come back here.

"Crewe are a great footballing side but I don't think we allowed them to play. When we
(Telford) did it was in areas where they couldn't hurt us."

The Gresty Road End gave the former favourite a rather undeserved cold reception when he replaced Christian Moore after 69 minutes and he puts this down to his move to the Valiants, something which he didn't want to do: "I got a bit of stick when I came on but I've said it time and time again that it's always great coming back and I never wanted to leave in the first place. But that was out of my hands and I left when I did.

He admitted that the Bucks somewhat rode their luck in the game last weekend: "I still think Crewe are a quality side. We had a game plan and it worked on Saturday, but on another day it might not have done. We'll take great credit from this but I'm sure they'll do really well in Division One"