Wrexham are gearing up for another midweek encounter as Phil Parkinson prepares to take on Port Vale in the EFL Trophy.
It’s back to cup action for Wrexham on Tuesday night with the EFL Trophy taking centre stage.
Wrexham beat Mansfield Town in League One on Saturday, securing a 1-0 win over the Stags thanks to Ryan Barnett’s early goal.
Rob McElhenney felt that this was a ‘tough’ win for Wrexham but just what was needed after a difficult day in the FA Cup.
Wrexham lost 1-0 at Harrogate Town to crash out of the FA Cup in the first round, leaving Phil Parkinson frustrated.
Parkinson talked of a ‘wake up call’ for his Wrexham squad, so responding with a win was absolutely paramount.
Phil Parkinson admits Wrexham problems
Wrexham now turn the focus to the EFL Trophy with a clash against Port Vale on Tuesday night.
Wrexham are already through to the next round having beaten Salford City and Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21’s at the STōK Cae Ras.
Now heading on the road to face Port Vale, Wrexham will understandably ring the changes.
Parkinson has admitted that he plans to name 11 changes from the starting XI against Mansfield Town, offering chances to other players.
There are a number of issues in the Wrexham squad though with some big names suffering with injury and illness.
Parkinson has told Wrexham’s official website that both Andy Cannon and James McClean have picked up knocks from facing Mansfield Town.
Cannon is suffering with ‘muscle tightness’ whilst McClean has a slight hamstring issue, meaning neither are likely to play against Port Vale.
Parkinson added that Elliot Lee was suffering with a virus ahead of facing Mansfield Town and his condition has ‘worsened’, meaning he didn’t train on Monday.
“We’ve picked up a couple of knocks from the weekend,” said Parkinson.
“Andy Cannon had a bit of muscle tightness, which doesn’t look too bad but we need to monitor that as the week goes on; Elliot Lee had a virus on Friday and then worsened over the weekend so he’s not back in with us today.
“We’ll have to look at him as well. James McClean has a bit of a tight hamstring so that’s another we’ll monitor ahead of the weekend. It was a hard-fought game, and when the game’s like that you tend to pick up one or two things. I don’t think anything’s too serious, but we’ll probably know more in the next couple of days,” he added.
Wrexham need all three players fit and firing
Parkinson will happily leave Cannon, Lee and McClean out of the squad to face Port Vale.
Wrexham have already qualified through the group stage and don’t need the top first-team stars in action.
Cannon, Lee and McClean will surely be given the night off with Wrexham keen to get the trio back in time to face Stockport County this weekend.
This is a big game for Wrexham and Parkinson will certainly want key players like Cannon, Lee and McClean available.
Resting all three of them against Port Vale just makes sense and we will hopefully see positive developments for the trio in the coming days.