Wrexham midfielder George Evans has sent a clear message to his teammates following their defeat against Doncaster Rovers last night.
Wrexham’s dreams of achieving promotion are still in their own hands.
Despite losing 1-0 against Doncaster Rovers – who extended their winning run to five matches – the Reds are two points clear of fourth-place MK Dons and four behind leaders Stockport County.
A first-half strike from midfielder Owen Bailey was enough to condemn Phil Parkinson‘s men to defeat in South Yorkshire, with the 56-year-old criticising his team for being wasteful in the final third.
Wrexham recorded 15 attempts on Thimothee Lo-Tutala’s goal, and while he made a world-class save to deny Steven Fletcher, that was the visitors’ only attempt on target.
The Reds delivered a night of rare positives, but the Wrexham faithful were pleased to see midfielder George Evans take to the field for the second game in a row.
George Evans must start v Colchester
Evans has just returned from a hamstring injury, following up his two-minute cameo against Mansfield with another 29 minutes off the bench against Doncaster.
A crucial cog in their promotion-chasing machine, the 29-year-old was a mainstay in the middle of Wrexham’s engine room before sustaining injury.
Alongside Andy Cannon and Elliot Lee, that trio struck a strong partnership including a blend of ball-winning, energy and class in the final third.
The former Manchester City trainee was the enforcer of that midfield three, lending the ball from the centre-backs while winning possession back for his team and oozing quality centrally.
Despite missing nine games through injury, as James McClean deputized centrally, Evans has still made 24 appearances in League Two since arriving from Millwall.
Many expect the experienced EFL destroyer to play a huge role on the pitch in the final five games, with his influence off it just as important.
George Evans sends a clear message to Wrexham teammates
An enforcer on and off the pitch, Parkinson has missed the lynchpin of his midfield and he should start against Colchester.
Easily capable of flourishing higher up the pyramid having made 147 appearances in the Championship, Evans has regularly experienced the business end of a season.
A League Cup winner with Man City in 2016, Evans knows what it takes to win silverware and learning from some of the best players in the world has placed him in good stead.
He’s used his previous experiences to send a message to his Wrexham teammates, a sort of captain-like response to last night’s defeat.
“We cannot think of anything else other than playing the next game,” Evans told BBC Sport.
“We have a big game at Colchester. If we take care of our business – that’s all we can do – it will be enough.
“We need to focus on ourselves, dust ourselves down and make sure it [defeat] does not happen again.”
He added: “We are capable of beating everyone in this league but football is never that simple. This was not our day [at Doncaster] but we will push on now and make sure we have a strong end to the season.”
Evans may have missed over a month of action injury. However, he’s back at a vital time to deliver an important message to his teammates and hopefully deliver outstanding displays on the pitch.