Wrexham resume their pre-season duties with a game against FC Groningen on Saturday. Wrexham’s pre-season so far has brought up some mixed results.
During the pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand, Phil Parkinson’s side played three games, winning one and losing two.
Wrexham beat Melbourne Victory 3-0 in their opener before losing games against Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand.
Up next, Wrexham play FC Groningen in a pre-season friendly on Saturday the 2nd. Parkinson takes his side to the Netherlands to face the Eredivisie side in what will be a good test of the new-look Dragons team ahead of the Championship opener against Southampton the following weekend.
The latest Wrexham team news ahead of FC Groningen friendly
The big bit of injury news for Wrexham right now is that Ollie Rathbone looks set to miss the start of the season. During the pre-season friendly match against Sydney FC, Rathbone picked up an ankle injury which Parkinson later described as quite a worrying one.
Whilst no official return date has been put on the midfielder just yet, it seems inevitable that he will miss the season opener against Southampton on August 9th.
Meanwhile, striker Jay Rodriguez is expected to miss the start of the season. Elsewhere, Andy Cannon returned to first team training recently, though whether he’s fit enough to feature in the coming weeks remains to be seen.
Jack Marriott also looks set to miss out after having his appendix out.
Wrexham’s predicted lineup for FC Groningen
On Saturday, it looks like Wrexham fans will get a first glimpse of some of their new signings, mainly George Thomason, Liberato Cacace, Lewis O’Brien, and Josh Windass.
The quartet have all signed for Wrexham, and all four arguably walk into the XI, though expect Parkinson to name a strong side, but to still make plenty of changes in order to give his players that match fitness ahead of the Southampton opener.
Arthur Okonkwo remains the number one goalkeeper. On the left, James McClean will now battle Cacace for the starting spot, whilst the centre-backs will largely be the same from last season. On the right should be Ryan Longman, and the midfield could see a lot of change starting from this weekend.
O’Brien is no doubt the key midfield player right now, and he could be paired with fellow new signing Thomason and perhaps Elliott Lee, who will be looking to continue his fine-scoring form for Wrexham in the Championship next season.
There will also be changes in attack. Parkinson now has a wealth of attacking options, with more looking set to arrive too, with Wrexham trying to sign Nathan Broadhead and Kiefer Moore before the summer transfer window shuts on September 1st.
Windass has played as a deeper-lying striker in the past, and so he could start up front alongside one of Hardie or Sam Smith, who will likely play a bit further up the pitch.
Here’s how we think Wrexham will line up against FC Groningen on Saturday…
Okonkwo (GK)
McClean
Brunt
Scarr
Cleworth
Longman
Thomason
O’Brien
Lee
Windass
Hardie