Getting the three points against Mansfield Town was the main thing for Wrexham today, but the victory was soured by an injury to Andy Cannon.
Wrexham needed a win to get back on track in the league and to close the gap on Wycombe above them, who dropped points on Saturday.
Phil Parkinson’s men duly delivered, with a professional and positive victory on the road against a Mansfield team that simply couldn’t wrestle possession away from Wrexham.
While Max Cleworth stole the headlines for his role in the win, another Wrexham player will be in our thoughts this evening, as Andy Cannon suffered what looked to be a nasty injury in the first half.
Andy Cannon suffers knee injury vs Mansfield Town
Cannon was having a good game having been brought into the midfield as one of Parkinson’s big changes for the Mansfield match.
But, with roughly 40 minutes on the clock, the terrier-like midfielder went to the ground awkwardly. Cannon stayed down for around ten minutes, having been given oxygen on the pitch, and was later removed via stretcher.
When asked about the midfielder, Parkinson said (via the club’s official Twitter/X account): “It looks like a knee injury, we don’t know the extent of it but we got the three points for Andy Cannon.”
Further comments were made by Parkinson in his post-match press conference, where he said: “Andy looks like a bad injury. His knee. But we don’t know the extent. It’s not easy when a great lad like Andy is stretchered off. I said to the lads at half-time, ‘C’mon, let’s do this for Andy’. They did that.”
The injury certainly looked serious at the time, given the stoppage and the fact he had to be carried off the field. Indeed, knee injuries can lead to long-term absences, but hopefully Cannon will be back before too long.
Still, it’s a touching tribute from the Wrexham manager to dedicate the win to Cannon, and clearly all the Wrexham players wanted to put in that extra 10% to get the result over the line for him.
Injury comes at the worst time for Andy Cannon
This was a big game for Cannon, and a great opportunity for him to cement his place in Parkinson’s starting lineup for the rest of the season.
The tireless midfielder has been in and out of the team throughout the campaign, but whenever he has played, he’s looked like a man on a mission.
Wrexham’s midfield dynamic is one that Parkinson clearly hasn’t nailed down just yet. Ollie Rathbone is the main man at the moment, but the likes of Matty James, George Dobson, Elliot Lee, and George Evans were all battling Cannon for the other two places.
Of course, this is a massive blow for Cannon, and Wrexham will miss his dogged displays. But, it’s also an opportunity for another player to step in and step up, and Parkinson will certainly lay down that gauntlet for all the midfielders in the Wrexham squad.