There’s no rest for the Red Dragons as Wrexham look ahead to the challenge posed by Leyton Orient for the midweek game in League One this week.
Wrexham took another hopeful step towards promotion over the weekend with a 2-0 win away at Northampton Town on Saturday afternoon.
Fans were thrilled with Sam Smith’s first goal for the club, while Ollie Rathbone ensured all three points were safe just moments later.
However, their next task will be decidedly more difficult as promotion-chasing Leyton Orient travel to the Racecourse Ground looking to cause an upset.
Leyton Orient fear a ‘scrappy game’ against Wrexham
The last time the two teams met, back in September, Wrexham had to settle for a point in a 0-0 draw away at Leyton Orient’s Gaughan Group Stadium.
After the game, Richie Wellens insisted his team deserved to win the game, and should have put the game to bed long before Wrexham began to assert their dominance in the latter stages.
He said: “I thought, first half, we dominated the game and should be 3-0 up, without being really crisp and really good.
“Then, for 20 minutes of the second half, we were outstanding and then we’re forced into a few changes and I think the last 20 minutes, if there’s only one team that was going to win the game, it was probably them – just because we stopped passing the ball.
“We kept giving the ball away on the first pass so you can never get into shape, we kept playing long from the back when playing short had brought us a lot of success and we just made it into a scrappy game and I think a scrappy game suits them.”
So, it seems that if the Wrexham squad can force Leyton Orient into being careless in possession and to turn the affair into a more chaotic battle for the ball, the Red Dragons may be able to secure the win on Tuesday night.
Wrexham must not get complacent against Leyton Orient
Wrexham cannot simply expect home advantage or even an insight into what Orient did last time around to be enough to steer them to victory this time, though.
Leyton Orient have improved a great deal over the course of the season, and are now one of the most in-form teams in League One. After four wins in their last five games, Wellens’ team now sit in the play-off places, which seemed unthinkable a couple of months ago.
| Rank | Team | Played | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 29 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 69 |
| 2 | Wycombe | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 60 |
| 3 | Wrexham | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 58 |
| 4 | Stockport | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 57 |
| 5 | Huddersfield | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 52 |
| 6 | Leyton Orient | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 50 |
Orient have been boosted by the immense form of on-loan star Jamie Donley, who has really grown into his role at the club after a slow start to his spell away from Tottenham Hotspur. The young midfielder was crowned EFL Young Player of the Month for January, and will certainly be one to watch for Wrexham.
However, given Wrexham’s brilliant home form, and the fact they appear to be gaining more consistency as they chase promotion once more, you’d have to back the Red Dragons to win this one.