Wrexham’s game against Bristol Rovers sprung up some familiar criticisms, mostly aimed at one attacker in particular.
On Friday, Wrexham drew 1-1 with Bristol Rovers and subsequently saw themselves drop down into 3rd place of the League One table, now a point behind Wycombe Wanderers who move up into 2nd.
Matty James scored for the Dragons but manager Phil Parkinson faced heavily criticism for another tired performance. So too did Jay Rodriguez.
Wrexham fans blasted Rodriguez’s performance as the January signing from Burney once again failed to make an impact.
Wrexham fans call for Steven Fletcher to replace Jay Rodriguez vs Blackpool
By this point, Wrexham fans criticising Rodriguez is nothing new. But Steven Fletcher came on for Rodriguez against Bristol Rovers, and alongside fellow substitute James McClean helped change the game. Now, fans want Fletcher to replace Rodriguez against Blackpool on Monday.
One Wrexham fan said: “Fletcher comes in and almost immediately hits the post… Rodriguez did nothing but stand offside,” and a similar comment read: “Fletcher showed more threat after coming on compared to Rodriguez.”
This fan posted: “Maybe Fletcher should start at this point. As soon as him and McLean came on the pitch we started creating chances,” and this Wrexham supporter added: “Parky needs to drop Rodriguez on Monday. Fletcher to start.”
One fan even said: “It is mad how much better Steven Fletcher is than Rodriquez at literally everything.”
- READ MORE: Phil Parkinson shares how he really feels about promotion after Wrexham’s draw vs Bristol Rovers
Steven Fletcher vs Jay Rodriguez’s stats against Bristol Rovers
Despite Fletcher playing just the final 26 minutes of the game, he outshone Rodriguez in terms of both shots and duels, registering one shot on target and generally making the game a whole lot livelier, along with McClean.
Rodriguez just seems to offer very little right now, playing in this quite odd no.10 role behind Sam Smith who was also struggling to get going against Bristol Rovers.
| Statistic | Fletcher v B.Rovers | Rodriguez v B.Rovers |
| Shots on target | 1 | 0 |
| Touches | 16 | 29 |
| Passes complete | 6 | 12 |
| Minutes played | 26 | 64 |
| Duels won | 6 (out of 9) | 6 (out of 11) |
With the games coming thick and fast this weekend we might see Parkinson make some rotational changes, one change surely being Rodriguez being dropped for the bench, and hopefully Fletcher starting.
Kick off is at 3pm on Monday.