The six-goal midfielder has been absent since he sustained an ankle ligament injury against Doncaster Rovers last month.

Manager Richie Barker has branded the match at the Broadfield Stadium a ‘must win’ and may have a full-strength squad to choose from.

The Sussex outfit, who have drawn just under half of their home games, are likely to see the return of defender Joe Walsh from international duty.

The 20-year-old played the whole match for Wales Under-21s in their 1-0 win against Moldova on Friday night.

Former Portsmouth defender Mustapha Dumbuya may also return after representing his country Sierra Leone.

Crawley will be without on-loan Millwall striker Aiden O’Brien who is away on Republic of Ireland Under-21 duty.

Central defender Kyle McFadzean will also be absent as he is still continuing his return to match fitness after being injected with a virus in November.

The Red Devils can still mathematically mount a late play-off charge in their remaining nine games and victory will see them leapfrog their opponents into 12^th.

Crewe Alexander manager Steve Davis will hand late fitness tests to skipper Luke Murphy and winger Byron Moore.

Davis has the Johnstones Paint Trophy Final to look ahead to in two weeks time and is set to blend injured Murphy back into the squad ahead of the Wembley tie.

Moore is rated 50/50 to recover from a dead leg in time to feature.While fellow midfielder Michael West is also pushing for a recall after returning to match fitness from a long-term hip injury.

In-form top scorer Mathias Pogba will definitely miss the 210-mile trip down south after been given time to recover from international duty.

The 16-goal striker represented Guinea for 45 minutes in their World Cup qualifier against Mozambique on Sunday.

The Railwaymen will have to rely on AJ Leitch-Smith and highly-rated teenager Max Clayton to produce the goals.

The 18-year-old forward is set to feature after he came through unscathed from England’s Under 19 victory against Turkey on Thursday.

Defender Jon Guthrie was playing for Pewsey Vale in the Hampshire Wessex Division One a year ago and is ruled out of a return to the south with a hernia.

While loanee Brad Inman has returned to his parent club Newcastle to receive treatment for an ankle problem.

The Alex has one of the leakiest defence in the league and will have to work hard to keep out Crawley’s free-scoring pair Nicky Adams and Billy Clarke.

Crewe won the reserve fixture 2-0 in November with two goals from Lauri Dalla Valle. The Finnish striker will not play on Saturday after he returned to Fulham.

The Cheshire side is currently in 13^th position, 11 points from a Play-Off place

This fixture was originally scheduled for Saturday however it was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Both clubs quickly agreed Tuesday to be the new date.

Sheffield United were left frustrated after throwing away a two goal lead against mid-table Crewe Alexandra at Bramall Lane.

The Blades were 2-0 up and cruising but conceded twice on the stroke of half time before going behind early in the second half. They managed to respond with an equaliser but were unable to strike again for the three points.

United were also denied a penalty at 3-3. This was a decision which Blades manager Danny Wilson was very unhappy with.

“I’m sure the referee will talk differently but the DVD suggests it was a penalty,” said Wilson.

The Blades boss was also critical of his teams defending. He said: “we didn’t perform and defensively made some bad decisions. It’s a learning curve for the younger players in the team.”

Blades strike early through Shaun Miller (Picture from Steve Ellis)

Shaun Miller gave the Blades the lead after just four minutes. Defender Harry Maguire then put the Blades seemingly in total control when he doubled the lead midway through the first half.

However Crewe struck back. Mark Ellis put the Railwaymen back in contention before Mathias Pogba poked home after unfortunate goalkeeper George Long punched the ball into his own defender.

After the break Crewe carried on from where they left off and took the lead after just two minutes of the restart. On loan Arsenal midfielder Chuks Aneke tapped home after good play down the Crewe left.

The Blades responded quickly though. Miller turned the Crewe defence inside out in the box before unleashing a shot onto the post. Nick Blackman was on hand to turn the ball in from the rebound and get the home side back on level terms.

United then pushed for a winner. Blackman went close on a couple of occasions and Chris Porter missed a glaring chance when he failed to connect with a David McAllister cross.

Blackman was then bundled over in the box late on. However the referee did not give the penalty which meant that Sheffield United were forced to settle for a single point. 

Attendance: 16,000