Phil Parkinson says Wrexham have a ‘great replacement’ for Eoghan O’Connell after Bristol Rovers injury

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Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has suffered another blow in the race for promotion from League One, with Eoghan O’Connell now an injury concern.

Wrexham drew 1-1 against Bristol Rovers on Friday in a very disappointing result for the Dragons, made more so by the fact that Wycombe Wanderers won away at Bolton Wanderers and now sit in 2nd place of the League One table.

Phil Parkinson’s side are in 3rd and a point behind the Chairboys with three games to go, the next being a trip to Blackpool on Monday as Wycombe host top six rivals Charlton Athletic.

And ahead of the Blackpool game, Wrexham fans will be fearing the worst over Eoghan O’Connell. The defender was forced off at the break having took a knock in the first half, replaced by Dan Scarr who Parkinson think played well.

So far this season the 29-year-old O’Connell has featured 39 times in League One, claiming two assists and generally playing a key role in the campaign. Just last week O’Connell was named in the EFL Team of the Week.

• READ MORE: Andy Morrell says one Wrexham player has lost his ‘momentum’ lately, he blames Phil Parkinson

Phil Parkinson tight-lipped on Eoghan O’Connell injury at Wrexham

Speaking to the press after the game, Parkinson was of course asked about O’Connell’s injury status. But the Wrexham boss failed to give anything away; perhaps he hasn’t gotten the details himself at the time, or perhaps he didn’t want to give anything away ahead of the game at Blackpool.

Instead, Parkinson moved to praise Scarr who came on for O’Connell. Parkinson said: “I haven’t really spoke to Kev [Mulholland, Head of Performance Medicine and Sports Science] yet, so I’ll probably speak to him before I go. But obviously we’ve got a great replacement in Dan Scarr and I thought he came on and did really well.”

Scarr, 30, had been an unused substitute for 10 straight games before coming on against Bristol Rovers. And he deserves praise for coming into such an intense game after so long on the bench and performing steadily. But Bristol Rovers fans were fuming with Scarr after the game after they thought he got away with a penalty shout late on.

• READ MORE: What happened in the 58th minute of Wrexham 1-1 Bristol Rovers that left the whole stadium in complete silence

How Wrexham have performed when Eoghan O’Connell hasn’t played this season

O’Connell has so far played in all but four of Wrexham’s League One fixtures this season. But there’s every chance that he misses the rest of the campaign if he has any kind of serous injury.

With O’Connell in the side, Wrexham have won 23 games, drawn 10 and lost six. Whereas when O’Connell isn’t in the side, Wrexham haven’t been as formidable, albeit in only four games.

Losing O’Connell at such a crucial time of the season would be a massive blow for Parkinson and Wrexham. But like Parkinson says, Scarr is a viable replacement, and he’ll no doubt start against Blackpool is O’Connell can’t.