No pressure on Crewe to make play-offs - Matt Tootle

Tootle is set to make his 100th appearance for Crewe on Saturday

Matt Tootle does not believe there is extra pressure on Crewe to reach the play-offs, despite manager Steve Davis setting a points target for the team.

Davis has said a total of 76 points should be enough for a top-seven spot.

Full-back Tootle told BBC Radio Stoke: "It's not (any more) pressure. We're just playing and keeping quiet.

"We have crept up. I think the gap was 10 points a couple of weeks ago and now it's a bit smaller. We need to keep doing what we've been doing."

The Alex have won their last three matches and are now just three points behind seventh-placed Oxford in the League Two table.

Speaking after the 4-1 victory over Dagenham on Saturday, Davis told BBC Radio Stoke: "A realistic target would be two points a game.

"That would give us about 76 points and I think that would be enough to get into the play-offs."

Tootle is set to reach a personal milestone on Saturday when Crewe face another in-form team, Barnet, at Underhill.

If selected, the 21-year-old will be making his 100th appearance for the Alex, having been handed his first-team debut by previous manager Dario Gradi in November 2009.

"It's been a great two years for me and it seems to have gone really fast," said Tootle.

"I watched a DVD of an early game I played against Macclesfield not long ago and I was just running around the pitch. I was even up front at some times.

"I have matured a lot. It's been up and down but I'm definitely a better player now."

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