Wrexham midfielder Ollie Rathbone picked up an injury against Sydney FC, and he may not be the only issue in Phil Parkinson’s squad.
Wrexham opened the tour of Australia and New Zealand with a victory, but suffered defeat on Tuesday.
Phil Parkinson saw his Wrexham side beat Melbourne Victory 3-0 on Friday and was hoping for more of the same against Sydney FC.
An own goal put Wrexham ahead in the first half, before Alexandar Popovic levelled it up for the hosts.
Joe Lacey scored an emotional winner for Sydney FC, with the teenager scoring amid familial ties to Wrexham.
The defeat won’t bother Parkinson too much at this stage in pre-season, but injuries are a concern.
Phil Parkinson on Jay Rodriguez
Ollie Rathbone suffered an ankle injury and was taken straight to hospital, having been substituted in the first half.
Wrexham players are concerned about Rathbone, and Parkinson will wait on results from an X-ray ahead of this weekend’s game against Wellington Phoenix.
Rathbone is not the only problem in the Wrexham squad, though, as striker Jay Rodriguez must also be assessed.
Rodriguez came on for the final half an hour against Sydney FC, as Parkinson rang the changes around the hour mark.
The veteran striker wasn’t involved against Melbourne Victory, so his cameo against Sydney FC was his first appearance of the summer.
However, Parkinson admitted to Wrexham’s official YouTube channel that Rodriguez is an injury concern due to a foot problem.
Parkinson noted that Rodriguez was still feeling the effects of a foot injury, and Wrexham must now ‘assess that quickly’ with the experienced forward still struggling.
“We’ve got to get back to the hotel tonight, we’ve got a few other injury concerns,” said Parkinson.
“Nothing major… Jay Rodriguez hadn’t played previously, he had a problem with his foot and he was still feeling it, so we need to assess that quickly,” he added.
Jay Rodriguez needs a strong pre-season
This will be a real source of frustration for both Parkinson and Rodriguez, with the striker still waiting for his Wrexham career to take off.
Rodriguez joined Wrexham in January, but struggled to make an impact despite being handed a starting role after his arrival.
Rodriguez managed just two goals in a Wrexham shirt: one was a rebound from a penalty, and the other was a successful spot kick.
The quality is certainly in Rodriguez’s locker, but the experienced striker needed a big pre-season in order to head into the new campaign with real sharpness.
Now struggling with a foot problem, Rodriguez may be in danger of enduring a stop-start pre-season.
Wrexham will hope that isn’t the case, but Parkinson certainly appears to be concerned after Rodriguez’s cameo.