Wrexham are back in action this weekend as Phil Parkinson leads his side into battle against rivals Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
The first international break of the season is here but there will be no break for Wrexham fans this weekend – far from it, in fact.
Rather than having a relaxing weekend, Wrexham supporters will be gearing up for the visit of rivals Shrewsbury Town.
This is a big game in the Wrexham calendar and the rivalry was stoked last year with then-Shrews defender Tom Flanagan taking jabs at Wrexham ahead of an FA Cup clash.
Wrexham won that game 1-0 and will be looking for a repeat performance at the STōK Cae Ras this weekend.
Paul Hurst on Wrexham v Shrewsbury
A number of League One games are off this weekend due to international call-ups but that won’t be the case for Wrexham and Shrewsbury.
Jacob Mendy isn’t in the Gambia squad after his injury battle and international days for James McClean and Steven Fletcher are a thing of the past.
Wrexham will be raring to go against Shrewsbury but the visitors have been impacted with a couple of absences.
Defender Luca Hoole has been called up by the Wales Under-21’s and centre back Aaron Pierre is in the Grenada squad.
Both players will be unavailable for a Shrewsbury side who could only name six substitutes against Leyton Orient last weekend.
Speaking to Shrewsbury’s official website, Hurst acknowledged that both Hoole and Pierre will miss out.
Hurst highlighted that captain Carl Winchester may be ruled out too but midfielder Funso Ojo is expected to return.
Hurst feels that Wrexham is a ‘massive game’ for Shrewsbury and praised Parkinson’s side for a fine start to the new season.
“We certainly hope so, the only thing would kind of add as a precautionary is that it doesn’t seem that bad, but if he starts running and feels it we’ll be in the same sort of position that we were in today, when he came in and had a little fitness test,” said Hurst. “Hopeful that he’ll be available, but we’ll have to see what next week brings.
“Luca has been called up to the Welsh Under-21 squad and Aaron’s has been called up for his country. I know he didn’t play today, but you look at it, we had six on the bench. Funso should be available for us and then we’ll have to see if we can get anyone else back.
“We know it’s a massive game, I’ve seen they’ve had a fantastic win at Peterborough and started life extremely well in League One. We know what it means to our fans and I’m sure we’ll talk more about it in the coming week,” he added.
Wrexham players familiar with Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury should not be taken lightly even if Hurst ends up missing some of his first-team players either through injury or international commitments.
This Wrexham squad will be well aware of the threat Shrewsbury can pose and how derby days can throw up any result.
Some Wrexham players are very familiar with Shrewsbury with wing back Ryan Barnett and goalkeeper Callum Burton both starting in their youth ranks.
New signing Burton may only be on the bench but Barnett looks set to start against his former club this weekend.
Steven Fletcher was even born in Shrewsbury before his family relocated to Scotland when the striker was just 10.
There are a few Shrewsbury connections in this Wrexham squad but they will be going all-out to secure a derby day victory this weekend.