Lee Bell: Non-League stint has boosted Adrien Thibaut’s claims for Crewe start

Lee Bell believes a loan stint in the National League North has boosted Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Adrien Thibaut’s claims for a starting place at Crewe.

The 21-year-old came off the bench to drive a neat second-half finish in a narrow 1-0 League Two victory over Gillingham, which moved the Railwaymen into the top seven.

It was the former Cobh Ramblers striker’s first league goal of the campaign – and only the fifth of his Crewe career – having joined the club in 2024 after short spells in the Northern Premier League with Macclesfield and Bradford Park Avenue.

After struggling at first to establish himself, manager Bell is confident Thibaut is making big strides now after spending two months in the National League North earlier in the season when he scored four times while on loan at Southport.

He said: “Adrien is showing signs of improvement all the time. His loan really helped him and while he had a knock back when he was sent off against Bristol Rovers before Christmas, he learnt from that.

“He’s showing some real quality and learning from the other forwards here.

“He’s seeing what they do and you can see he’s running in behind and coming off short. He’s picking up little things and that is what he’s got to do to keep developing and learning.

“If he can take more goals like that, it will be a real plus.

“All the players here really want to do well for each other and I was really impressed with their enthusiasm.

“We worked hard and showed moments of quality but I’m not getting carried away as we’ve got to focus on Fleetwood Town now on Tuesday.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some more players back from injury and that will strengthen us.”

Alex goalkeeper Ian Lawlor produced two good stops in an evenly-matched first period, keeping out a Ronan Hale effort with his feet and springing into action at the far post to keep out Sam Vokes’ header from a corner.

Crewe’s Calum Agius may have applied a finishing touch at the far post to Tommi O’Reilly’s cross, only to divert the ball wide.

But it was Thibaut – who came off the bench just before the hour mark – who pounced on a set-piece loose ball to drive into the far corner for the only goal of the game.

Gareth Ainsworth still retained hope of a play-off push for Gillingham, but admitted his players would need to defend set plays much better.

“We deserved something out of the game as we had the better chances. We conceded from a set-piece and I keep on going on about that,” said the Gillingham manager.

“In the first half we were very dangerous and apart from an O’Reilly shot in the second half (and the goal), I can’t remember Crewe having a shot on target.

“When Crewe scored they went to five at the back and it was hard to break them down.

“They are a very good side who pop teams around the pitch, but we worked hard and they didn’t put five or six passes together.

“We want to get in the play-offs and I am still confident in these boys that we can beat any team in this league and that includes Chesterfield on Tuesday.”