Wrexham are just about 48 hours away from one of the biggest games of the season with Mansfield Town heading to the STōK Cae Ras on Friday.
The charge for promotion to League One continues and Wrexham are in great spirits after Saturday’s 3-1 win at Grimsby Town.
Wrexham blew the Mariners away with a stunning first-half performance, claiming a 3-0 lead by half-time.
Mansfield Town are the opponents this time though and the Stags sit top of League Two, three points ahead of Wrexham.
A win for Wrexham would be absolutely enormous, not only boosting automatic promotion hopes but raising the belief for a title push.
Phil Parkinson will need everybody on top form on Friday, so the last thing he needed was an injury blow.
Thomas O’Connor may be back in action but there is now concern over an injury suffered by one important player…
Phil Parkinson on Jacob Mendy
Parkinson has told The Leader that left wing back Jacob Mendy has picked up a ‘slight hamstring problem’.
Mendy started against Grimsby but was substituted for Callum McFadzean just five minutes into the second half.
Wrexham fans were immediately fearing that Mendy could be out of action and Parkinson has now confirmed that it’s a hamstring issue.
Parkinson noted that ‘there is something there’ in terms of an injury, but doesn’t think that the issue is ‘too serious’ right now.
Parkinson doesn’t think that Mendy will be out long-term but will have him assessed ahead of facing Mansfield on Friday.
“Jacob has got a slight hamstring problem but it doesn’t appear too serious at this stage,” said Parkinson. “There is something there but it’s not a long-term injury. We will assess him later in the week,” he added.
Mendy has been a regular starter in recent weeks and offers an attacking threat having chipped in with two goals and five assists this season.
The 27-year-old may be forced to miss out on Friday but the hope is that his season isn’t over just yet.
Who could replace Mendy?
If Mendy misses out then Parkinson may well call upon McFadzean, who was only added to the Wrexham squad last week.
The 30-year-old may be a little rusty after a lack of football though and throwing him into a game against the league leaders could be a risk.
The boost here is that James McClean will be back in action after serving a two-game suspension against Tranmere Rovers and Grimsby.
McClean has played plenty of football at left wing back this season and may be the natural choice to replace Mendy.
Parkinson may still hope that Mendy can be fit enough to feature this Friday, but he does still have options just in case that isn’t possible.