Crewe Alexandra have confirmed that Bristol City loanee Jamie Knight-Lebel will remain with the League Two club for the remainder of the season.
The 20-year-old defender joined the Railwaymen during the summer transfer window on a season-long loan and has impressed during his time in the fourth tier of English football so far.
Knight-Lebel has made 19 appearances in League Two this season, scoring twice and helping Crewe climb to second in the league as they look to win automatic promotion under the management of Lee Bell.
The versatile defender’s good performances while away from Ashton Gate have also seen him called up to the Canada squad in recent months. The City loanee made his debut on the international stage as he was introduced off of the bench against Suriname in the November break, playing the final 17 minutes of Canada’s 3-0 win.
Although Knight-Lebel will not be returning to the West Country this month, Liam Manning has paid close attention to the 20-year-old’s development and has been keen to praise his performances in recent weeks.
“Jamie’s doing terrifically well,” Manning told Bristol Live earlier in January. “That’s a big part of developing players. You can have them in the team and put them in the team but some players need to go on a different journey, which doesn’t mean they’re not going to progress at this football club.
“Jamie obviously had a terrific taste with us in the FA Cup, coming on at right wing-back away to Nottingham Forest was great exposure for him. You then get to a stage, especially in certain positions, where Jamie needs to go and build a CV, get beaten up a little bit, understand how to step up and he’s done terrifically well. Obviously, he got himself in the full national squad for Canada and he’s someone that’s improving all the time.
“Sometimes you can derail that rather than give them a real solid, strong season to come back in pre-season and hit the ground running here.”
Knight-Lebel and Crewe will next be in action on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Accrington Stanley to the Mornflake Stadium. After that, the Railwaymen will have a crucial showdown with AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday night with the Dons currently trailing Bell’s side by just three points in the race for automatic promotion.