Wrexham slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Doncaster Rovers last night, and Phil Parkinson has explained one tactical decision he made in the match.
Phil Parkinson took his side to Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night, aiming to follow up on Friday’s 2-0 victory over Mansfield Town.
That game lived up to the hype as Wrexham secured a hugely important victory in the context of the League Two title race.
Unfortunately, their attempts to continue their momentum against an in-form Doncaster side fell on deaf ears.
Grant McCann’s men opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time through midfielder Owen Bailey and Wrexham couldn’t get back into the game.
As Doncaster recorded their fifth consecutive victory, Parkinson felt not claiming all three points in South Yorkshire was a missed opportunity.
The Reds watched their promotion rivals MK Dons, Crewe Alexandra and Barrow all drop points on Monday. However, after registering 15 attempts and only one on target, Wrexham were made to pay for their wastefulness.
Phil Parkinson explains the decision to substitute Luke Bolton for Ryan Barnett
During the match, Parkinson attempted to alter the tide by substituting Luke Bolton for Ryan Barnett at half-time.
Bolton has started Wrexham’s last three matches in League Two, with his chance in the starting XI arising after Barnett suffered an injury.
When a player is substituted so early on in a match, it usually means they haven’t performed up to the standard, but Parkinson explained that this decision was purely tactical.
Speaking to Wrexham’s official YouTube channel, the Wrexham boss felt Barnett would offer him more quality down the right.
He said: “I just felt we needed Barney’s bit of quality, Bolts has been great for us. But I just felt we needed to get Ryan on there, he had moments, he had a great chance to score and got some good crosses in.
“But you know, Bolts was unlucky because he’s done well for us but sometimes you’ve got to make a decision.”
Barnett vs Bolton is a fascinating battle
Parkinson has two quality operators to choose from at right wing-back as Barnett and Bolton battle for a spot in the starting XI.
Barnett was winning that battle before his injury but Bolton has looked impressive since coming into the side, despite being substituted last night.
It will be interesting to see who Parkinson starts for their trip to Colchester on Saturday as it’s a position that will give him a huge headache in the build-up.
While Barnett vs Bolton is fascinating, the race for promotion to League One is equally exciting with Wrexham currently two points above fourth place MK Dons.
Hopefully, the Reds can bounce back from last night’s defeat and return to winning ways this weekend.