Wrexham don’t have long to lick their wounds after defeat to Stoke City this weekend, with a midweek game against Oxford United coming up on Wednesday night.
Phil Parkinson will be looking for a reaction from his players this week when the Racecourse Ground plays host to the Championship clash.
Oxford are just one point and one place behind Wrexham as things stand. There’s a good chance Wrexham will now be in a relegation battle with Oxford come the end of the season.
As we look ahead to the match, we now know who will be the referee, and it’s safe to say Parkinson will need to be on his best behaviour.
Who is the referee for Wrexham vs Oxford United?
Elliot Bell will be the referee for the Wrexham vs Oxford United game.
His assistants will be Nigel Lugg and Carl Fitch-Jackson, with Samuel Allison as fourth official.
Elliot Bell’s referee record
Throughout his career, Elliot Bell has refereed 41 matches. Only nine of those have been in the Championship, with ten in League Two and 18 in League One.
In that time, Bell has shown eight red cards to players and a massive 167 yellow cards. Interestingly, though, his one time refereeing a Wrexham game involved just one booking for the Red Dragons.
| Competition | Games | Fouls per game | Fouls per tackle | Penalties per game | Yellow cards | Red cards |
| League One | 5 | 26.20 | 0.94 | 0.20 | 21 | 2 |
| Championship | 4 | 22.00 | 0.69 | 0.00 | 17 | 0 |
| League Cup | 3 | 23.00 | 0.71 | 0.00 | 8 | 0 |
| League Two | 1 | 24.00 | 0.57 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 |
| Total/Average | 13 | 24.00 | 0.77 | 0.08 | 48 | 2 |
This season, Bell has officiated 13 matches, including four in the Championship. They have involved two red cards (plus one for a manager, which we will discuss shortly) and 48 yellow cards at an average of 3.69 per game.
There has been an average of 24 fouls per game this season when Bell is in charge, with an average of 0.77 fouls per tackle.
Elliot Bell showed Ryan Mason controversial red card
Back at the end of August, Elliot Bell hit the headlines when he sent off West Brom manager Ryan Mason. The Baggies boss was livid with Bell’s decision-making in the game, particularly for missing what looked to be a blatant penalty call against the Portsmouth goalkeeper.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, former EFL striker Jay Bothroyd said: “The first one is just ridiculous – I don’t understand how the referee doesn’t see that. He might have been looking somewhere else at the time but that is one of the most obvious decisions we’ll see all season.”
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher agreed, adding: “It’s a clear penalty and the easiest decision to give.”
Mason saw two incidents ignored by Bell, in the 68th and 70th minute. He then remonstrated to the match officials rather passionately, and was sent off in the 71st minute.
Phil Parkinson… stay quiet on Wednesday, please!