Blackpool midfielder David Vaughan made his first return to Crewe since leaving the club in 2007 in last night's friendly.

The Welshman spent seven years at Gresty Road before moving to Real Sociedad. He was another graduate of Crewe's famous youth development system which has also produced the likes of Danny Murphy and Dean Ashton.

The Seasiders went down by a goal to nil in a dismal evening in Cheshire. Vaughan was disappointed with the result but was happy to see some of his old friends.

"It's been two or three years since I played for Crewe," said Vaughan. "Not much has changed; a lot of people are still here so it feels like I've never been away really.

"It was nice to come back and see some familiar faces. Obviously the result is not what we were looking for but it's pre-season so hopefully we can improve for the start of the season."

Vaughan's former manager Dario Gradi heaped praise on the 27-year-old and said he is very proud of his achievements.

"It is great that there is going to be another Crewe player to play in the Premier League," said Gradi.

"He is in our hall of fame at the training ground and deservedly so. Vaughany has always been a quiet lad, but it was nice to have a chat about things.

"He is not expected to score too many goals from where he is asked to play, and that is a bit different from his time here because he was expected to score goals here."

Vaughan took part in three games in four days and admits that tiredness played its part against Alexandra.

"I thought Crewe played well," added Vaughan. "We felt a little bit leggy during the game with all the travelling we've been doing recently. Hopefully, it'll improve our fitness and we can improve our performance on Saturday.

"It's been tough with all the games we've been playing, we've not done much training so we've not worked much on the tactics and stuff like that so it's been difficult."

With just over two weeks left 'til the start of the season and with boss Ian Holloway admitting he's close to bringing in a few players, Vaughan thinks the side are on the right track and their fitness will improve.

He added: "Hopefully we can get our fitness in before the season starts and get off to a good start in the Premiership.

"We had an extra three weeks last season and it's showing a bit at the moment but hopefully we'll improve in the next few weeks. We've been looking forward to the start of the season all summer so hopefully we can do well."

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