Wrexham have just added two new signings but Phil Parkinson has left the door open for one player to force his way back in.
Signings after the transfer deadline are a real rarity.
When Wrexham signed Modou Faal on transfer deadline day, most fans expected Phil Parkinson to be done and dusted in the market until January.
That wasn’t the case though as Wrexham signed free agent Josh Adam in September, bringing in the former Manchester City talent after a successful trial.
Adam is a project signing but Wrexham were forced into the free agent market after a number of injury blows.
George Evans suffered an injury at Stevenage, Jack Marriott has been ruled out for four months and Steven Fletcher has sustained a knee problem.
Wrexham have now signed free agents Matty James and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, bolstering Parkinson’s midfield and striking options.
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Phil Parkinson on Anthony Forde
Wrexham are able to register both James and Bodvarsson having left a couple of spots in Parkinson’s squad open.
One of the players sacrificed at that point was wide man Anthony Forde.
The Irishman was only able to start eight League Two games last season and was actually left out of the squad from January onwards.
Injuries were a problem for Forde but he was back in action during pre-season in the hope of breaking back into the Wrexham squad.
That hasn’t happened and Forde has again been left out of the squad with his future unclear.
Parkinson has now told The Leader that the plan is for Forde to work on building up his fitness levels ahead of January.
Wrexham can re-register players in January and Parkinson has left the door open for Forde to force his way back into the plans.
“We have got a lot of cover in that position,” said Parkinson. “I had a good chat with Fordey about it and with the back injury he had, he was still not quite where he wanted to be in pre-season.
“If you get to where we are at the end of October, if you said that he is now completely pain free and his strength and his power is coming back, I think we would have taken that. I just want Fordey to utilise this period to get himself as strong as possible to put himself back in contention in January.
“But Fordey’s professionalism is unquestionable, he is a great lad and he is an integral part of the group. He will be ready if called upon in cup games or when the squad rule isn’t in place in January and the squad for the second half of the season is reassessed,” he added.
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Forde faces battle for Wrexham future
Forde is a popular man at Wrexham and many have shown support for the Irishman off the back of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.
The 30-year-old hasn’t played a league game for Wrexham since January 13 this year though and Wrexham have gone up a level since then.
Forde showed the willingness to switch from playing as a winger to playing as a wing back but his route to first-team action at Wrexham looks tricky.
Ryan Barnett has been in blistering form this season and has destroyed the competition in the right wing back spot at Wrexham.
Luke Bolton saw a summer exit from Wrexham collapse and Forde’s best chance to get back into Parkinson’s plans may be if Bolton moves on in January.
Forde is out of contract at the end of the season though and we may well see him move on at the end of the season – or even earlier if Parkinson doesn’t have plans for him in League One.