Wrexham picked up a win in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday night, beating League Two side Salford City at the STōK Cae Ras.
Phil Parkinson turned his attention towards cup action just three days after the superb League One victory over rivals Shrewsbury Town.
This wasn’t exactly a red-hot atmosphere but it proved invaluable to Wrexham with a number of players receiving much-needed playing time.
Striker Paul Mullin made his first start of the season and marked his appearance with the opening goal of the game against Salford City.
Conor McAleny brought the visitors level before a scrappy winner – either a Will Boyle goal or a Josh Austerfield own goal – secured a 2-1 win for Wrexham.
This win won’t exactly live long in the memory for many Wrexham fans but Parkinson will be delighted with the run-out.
Phil Parkinson admits Elliot Lee concern
A number of vital first-team players effectively had the night off against Salford.
Arthur Okonkwo, Eoghan O’Connell, Thomas O’Connor, Ryan Barnett, James McClean, George Dobson, Andy Cannon and Jack Marriott weren’t even in the squad.
That Wrexham can boast these options is a testament to the work being done in the recruitment department right now but Parkinson has one lingering concern.
Attacking midfielder Elliot Lee was nowhere to be seen when the starting lineup to face Salford emerged.
Wrexham fans probably thought that Lee was just being rested after his goalscoring display against Shrewsbury on Saturday.
However, Parkinson has told Wrexham’s official YouTube channel that Lee is suffering a small injury issue.
Parkinson noted that George Dobson couldn’t play against Salford and Lee has a ‘slight problem’ ahead of the trip to Birmingham City on Monday.
“It’s the next league game coming up, we’ve got an extra couple of days to prepare for it, which I think is good for us because we’ve got one or two knocks,” said Parkinson.
“Dobbo had a dead leg which meant he needed to be rested tonight, Elliot’s got a slight problem, so there’s three or four things where those extra two days, we’ll get a huge benefit from that and yeah, I don’t think the game needs any building up,” he added.
This comes after Parkinson suggested that Lee needs to see a specialist to potentially clear up a problem.
Parkinson doesn’t seem too concerned but Wrexham fans will fear Lee missing the big trip to Birmingham.
Who could replace Lee if he misses Birmingham City?
Wrexham would certainly miss Lee and the goalscoring impact he provides from an attacking midfield position.
Lee would be an enormous miss but Wrexham do have other options who can come into the side.
Wrexham brought in a new midfielder over the summer as Ollie Rathbone came in from Rotherham United.
Rathbone has played in advanced midfield areas before and would surely be the favourite to come into the team.
Another option would be to bring James McClean into midfield, as he did at times in last season’s League Two campaign.
Summer signing Sebastian Revan could come in at left wing back, paving the way for McClean to operate more centrally.
With Wrexham’s game not until Monday, let’s hope that Lee is fully fit and raring to go again – but Parkinson will have contingency plans in mind, just in case.