Wrexham return to League One action this weekend as Phil Parkinson looks to bounce back after a nightmare in the EFL Trophy.
Dust yourselves down and go again; that must be the message from Phil Parkinson after Wrexham squandered a chance at reaching the EFL Trophy final.
Wednesday’s semi-final defeat to Peterborough United stings with Wrexham having one foot in a Wembley final at 2-0 up.
The second half saw Peterborough launch a comeback before beating Wrexham on penalties, leaving fans inside the STōK Cae Ras crestfallen.
Wrexham players can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves though with a massive League One game coming this weekend.
Parkinson’s former club visit the STōK Cae Ras this weekend with Wrexham needing a big response in the League One promotion race.
Steven Schumacher praises Wrexham squad
This promises to be a tricky game.
Bolton have won five of their last six League One games and are on the rise under new boss Steven Schumacher.
Now level on points with sixth-placed Leyton Orient, Bolton are seriously pursuing a League One play-off place.
Wrexham must not take this game lightly and Bolton boss Schumacher has offered praise for the Wrexham squad.
Speaking on Bolton’s official YouTube channel, Schumacher admitted that he is expecting a ‘good game’ as he takes his side to Wrexham.
Schumacher added that Wrexham have a ‘huge’ and ‘talented’ squad, believing that Parkinson has envious riches in terms of the options he can bring in and take out.
The Bolton boss added that the trip to Wrexham is one of the toughest away games of the season, so Bolton must be ready to battle.
“It should be a good game, yeah,” said Schumacher.
“They’ve got a huge squad, a talented squad. You look at their squad from Wednesday night’s game against Peterborough and we were expecting them to make a load of changes, similar to what they did against us when we played them in the Trophy, and then the team was different at the weekend,” said Schumacher.
“That’s the beauty of having the players that Phil’s got at his disposal, you can keep everybody relatively fresh and hungry and ready to go, so yeah, it will be a difficult game, no doubt, it will be one that’s going to be competitive and we need to make sure that we’re ready for it because it’s one of the toughest games you can go to away from home.
“I know they’ve had a couple of bad results of late, but they’ll be desperate to put that right, I’m sure, on Saturday,” he added.
Wrexham summer target set for STōK Cae Ras visit
Schumacher will bring his Bolton side with real confidence given their fine form.
One man seemingly set to feature for Bolton is John McAtee, a man Wrexham know all about from recent years.
McAtee was a threat for Grimsby Town in the National League and turned in some fine display against Wrexham.
Rob McElhenney was a fan of McAtee as he proved to be a thorn in Wrexham’s side.
Wrexham were keen to sign McAtee from Luton Town last summer but wouldn’t match Bolton’s offer for the attacker.
McAtee arrives in decent form with three goals in his last two games and Parkinson will be keen to shut him down and prevent another fine showing from him at the STōK Cae Ras.