Wrexham beat Mansfield Town 1-0 on Saturday but one of Phil Parkinson’s players was far from his best.
Wrexham went into Saturday’s meeting in Wales aiming to climb, at least temporarily, back into the automatic promotion places.
Mansfield Town are also on the hunt for promotion but it was the home side who struck first at the Racecourse Ground.
Ryan Barnett earned praise from Wrexham fans after smashing an effort in from the edge of the box to put his team in front after seven minutes of action.
However, it was the away side who went on to dominate much of the 90 minutes in Wales.
Goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo was called upon several times to make some big saves, with Will Evans and co. coming close to an equaliser more than once.
In the end, Wrexham beat Mansfield Town 1-0 to climb back into second for the time being.
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Thomas O’Connor was poor for Wrexham vs Mansfield Town
In truth, despite the win, it was by no means a great game for a number of Wrexham players.
Paul Mullin’s goalless run continued on Saturday, with the striker taken off after 74 minutes after he missed two big chances.
But one player struggled more than any other against Mansfield. The man in question is Thomas O’Connor.
The centre-back has been solid for much of 2024/25 so far but his poor passing and inability to mark his man left Wrexham exposed a number of times.
As per Sofascore, O’Connor lost possession a staggering 22 times against Mansfield – more than any of his teammates on the day.
He also lost 75 percent of his aerial duels and won just two of his five ground duels while also having a worryingly low 58 percent passing accuracy.
Wrexham could replace Thomas O’Connor after Mansfield Town
O’Connor was a key asset for Wrexham in 2023/24, forming one-third of a superb backline that also included Eoghan O’Connell and Max Cleworth.
Said trio started the current campaign as Parkinson’s preferred centre-backs but O’Connell has been dropped recently for Dan Scarr.
However, after O’Connor underperformed on Saturday, he could now lose his place in the eleven to O’Connell.
It may be a somewhat harsh call but given the quality of options available to Wrexham at the back right now, it is not out of the question.