Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has named defender Ben Tozer as the most underrated player in the current squad.
Phil Parkinson continues to utilise a back three as Wrexham chase promotion to League One.
Max Cleworth, Eoghan O’Connell and Will Boyle are currently in possession of the shirts and battled their way to a clean sheet against Notts County on Saturday.
That trio are likely to continue moving forward, but veteran centre back Ben Tozer will be ready to pounce if an opportunity arises.
Phil Parkinson praises Ben Tozer
33-year-old Tozer has been a regular this season, starting 25 of Wrexham’s 31 League Two games.
The experienced defender was on the bench against Notts County but Parkinson knows that he can count on Tozer whenever called upon.
Parkinson has now spoken to the brilliant Wrexham podcast Fearless In Devotion and has offered praise for Tozer.
When asked to name the most underrated player in the Wrexham squad, Parkinson went with the former Cheltenham Town defender.
Parkinson suggested that fans maybe don’t always appreciate Tozer’s ability to play out from the back and create angles to get out of danger.
Parkinson feels that Tozer has always shown bravery on the ball and, whilst he has made mistakes, he never hides under pressure.
“I think Ben, just to go back to underrated player, I think I’m gonna go back to Toze on that one as well and the reason is because what people don’t understand is that we play through Ben at the back a lot,” said Parkinson.
“You have to have a lot of bravery to keep receiving the ball in high-pressure games. In all my time here, obviously he has made mistakes, like every player does, but I always say to him ‘just keep getting the ball, keep showing bravery to show for the ball’ and never once on the pitch have I looked at him and thought ‘ooh, he doesn’t quite want it there’. Sometimes people in the stands don’t quite pick up to that but showing bravery to make angles when people are under pressure is a huge thing. That kind of element of Ben’s game is probably not really rated as highly as it should be,” he added.
Wrexham will need the experienced heads in Parkinson’s squad to make telling contributions in this push for promotion.
Saturday’s match-winner against Notts County was veteran striker Steven Fletcher and we saw a committed display from James McClean too.
Tozer fits into a similar category, providing experience and leadership as we approach the crunch end of the season.
Tozer may be out of the side right now but he will be valuable part of the squad and he clearly has the trust of Parkinson if required to make an impact.