Wrexham are back in action again tonight, and Phil Parkinson may have one or two tricks up his sleeve for Leyton Orient.
Phil Parkinson’s men put on a ‘professional’ display against Northampton at the weekend with a 2-0 win pushing them closer to automatic promotion thanks to Wycombe Wanderers dropping points.
Next up for Wrexham is a stern test against one of the most in-form teams in League One, though, with Leyton Orient heading to the Racecourse sitting in sixth place after a run of four wins in five.
Parkinson has a lot of big decisions to contend with ahead of the game, with a number of players pushing for a starting spot, and we think the Wrexham manager might make one surprising call.
Ryan Barnett could be dropped for Ryan Longman
When putting together our predicted Wrexham lineup, we assumed Parkinson would stick with a largely unchanged side from the win over Northampton.
While we suggested Paul Mullin might be reintroduced after his injury, another shock change Parkinson might consider is to drop Ryan Barnett for new signing Ryan Longman in the right wing-back role.
Barnett was described as a ‘top class’ player by James McClean not so long ago, and he’s been Wrexham’s top creator this season, providing eight assists in 32 games.
However, Longman has made a brilliant impression since arriving at Wrexham, and already has three assists in five games.
While Barnett didn’t do anything wrong against Northampton, we know Parkinson likes to tinker with his team here and there, and a rest for the 25-year-old wouldn’t be a bad thing.
It would be a simple, like-for-like switch, and Parkinson knows he can trust either player to deliver a top performance, so it’s a very risk-free alteration, too.
Wrexham’s squad depth is immense, could be key to promotion
After adding Longman, Sam Smith, and Jay Rodriguez in the January transfer window, the Wrexham squad is absolutely stacked with top talent.
Week in, week out, Parkinson now has the wonderful headache of choosing between two top goalkeepers in Mark Howard and Arthur Okonkwo, has various defensive rotations to consider, and a roster of seven strikers to select from, too.
It’s a great problem to have, and the luxury of such squad depth can only serve Wrexham well in their pursuit of promotion this season.
| Pos | Team | Played | W | D | L | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 29 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 69 | 32 |
| 2 | Wycombe | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 60 | 25 |
| 3 | Wrexham | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 58 | 20 |
While Birmingham City appear to have the title wrapped up already, there’s no reason why the Red Dragons can’t leapfrog Wycombe eventually. Indeed, if Wrexham keep up their current form, it will only be a matter of time before they’re sitting pretty in second place.