'Down to me' - Leeds United loanee opens up on career stall with honest 'consistency' admission
Charlie Crew is playing regularly again on his third Leeds United loan exit.
Out-on-loan Leeds United midfielder Charlie Crew admits only he can change what has been an ‘inconsistent’ period of his young career at current club Walsall.
Crew only turned 20 in June but is already onto his third temporary exit from West Yorkshire, having joined League Two Walsall for the season in August. The Welsh youngster had previously spent two years at Doncaster Rovers, impressing in the first but struggling for minutes in the second before an early departure.
Back in the third-tier with Walsall, Crew has 14 appearances across all competitions including seven starts. Like with Doncaster two years ago, he could be contributing to a promotion with The Saddlers currently third and the Leeds midfield prospect eyeing a season of regular football.
“Just inconsistency within myself really,” Crew told The Express & Star, reflecting on his past few years. “Inconsistency in performances and inconsistency in the amount of minutes that I was getting.
“That's down to me to change it. Hopefully this season I can with hard work and games like this today, going for the full 90 minutes and really showing that I'm consistent in performances in and out of possession.
“It's a great place for that next step, with the belief that the gaffer puts into everyone, but especially me. And that the team-mates around me, it's definitely a place where I feel that I can progress and I'm joining my football a lot.”
Leeds will hope Crew can continue the improvement shown during his first spell at Doncaster, with the 20-year-old looking good again at League Two level. The midfielder’s potential is in no doubt with Wales boss Craig Bellamy encouraged enough to hand him two senior caps already.
Crew impressed in a 3-1 win at Colchester last weekend, helping to bounce back from a defeat against Salford City on the Monday night. Interestingly, the Saddlers had a similar dilemma to Leeds in that they’d previously drawn five away games in a row and wanted to turn them into wins.
“It's very important. In this league, you can get two wins and you can shoot up the table,” Crew added. “It's very close at the moment. Coming away from Monday night (defeat against Salford), we knew we had to come here and get a positive result and it was unbelievable to do that.
“It's game by game, it's focusing on one opposition at a time. The day after the Salford game, we came in and it was straight heads on Colchester. That's how we're taking every week and every game. I think that's the best way to do it because you can't get too far ahead of yourself and hopefully now we can keep pushing.”