CREWE Police will be drafting in extra officers this weekend for Crewe Alexandra's vital derby clash with local rivals Stoke City.

The Alex, who are currently embroiled in a relegation battle, will play host to the visitors at the Gresty Road stadium.

It will be the first time they have entertained the Potteries side at home on a Saturday for some years and a number of publicans will be closing their doors for fear of trouble.

Officers have warned Stoke fans not to travel without tickets, while pubs near the Alexandra Stadium will close at the 3pm kick-off.

Inspector Andy Eadon, who is in charge of policing for the match said: "This is the nearest Crewe gets to a local derby match.

"A lot of Stoke supporters live in Crewe and some Crewe supporters live in Stoke-on-Trent .

"It is a situation which can heighten tension between fans and lead to occasional difficulties but we have a policing plan; there are first-class stewards at the ground and we have the co-operation of licensees.

"With that in place, we have managed to avoid any major disruption in previous years."

Stoke are expected to sell all their allocation of 2,200 tickets, and Andy Eadon says the most important message is that fans should not come to the ground without one.

He added: "We want this to be a good day out for the fans of both sides, and there is no reason why it should not be that, but if there are any problems we have adequate resources and we will deal with them firmly."

mhilditch@guardiangrp.co.uk