Wrexham right wing-back Luke Bolton now has a big opportunity to impress Phil Parkinson.
Wrexham have stuttered in their race for promotion out of League Two.
A goalless draw at home to Harrogate Town and a 1-0 defeat against Tranmere Rovers have left Wrexham on the brink of dropping out of the automatic promotion places.
The Reds are level on points with MK Dons in third position, although they have played an extra game.
After two recent poor results, Phil Parkinson was dealt a further blow having discovered that Ryan Barnett’s foot injury, picked up in Saturday’s defeat, is looking ‘serious’.
The 24-year-old underwent a scan yesterday and will find out the severity of his injury later in the week.
Barnett has been an important player for Wrexham and if he is out injured, especially during a pivotal period, it will be devastating news for everyone associated with the club.
Luke Bolton has to grab big Wrexham opportunity
Parkinson has preferred to use Barnett in the right wing-back role over deadline day arrival Luke Bolton.
The former Shrewsbury Town defender has started in their last six league games, assisting in the 4-0 victory over Accrington Stanley.
Barnett’s form in that position has kept Bolton waiting for a chance and when he has made a brief cameo, as demonstrated in the 0-0 draw against Harrogate, he has looked a “real threat”.
Bolton’s electric pace and superb dribbling make him a nightmare to defend against.
He has looked very effective when coming on against tiring bodies but now needs to translate that threat from the off.
Wrexham’s supply into the box in the past two games hasn’t been good enough. In the loss to Tranmere, Barnett skewed 13 crosses and only accurately placed one of his five attempted long balls.
With Wrexham relying heavily on the quality of their wing-backs, Barnett’s output needed to be much improved, however, Bolton is more than capable of serving up quality ammunition.
In the first half of the campaign, the Manchester City academy graduate supplied five assists in 20 appearances for Salford City and he now needs to replicate such quality in Wales.
The onus will be on him to replace Barnett if he is sidelined while proving to Wrexham that he is worthy of the fee paid for him.
With promotion to League One on a knife edge, there would be no better time for him to demonstrate his class for the Reds than now.