14 October 2005
By RICHARD WILLIAMS
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We’re at last seeing some light with the injuries
Denis Smith |
DENIS
SMITH can’t wait to get back into the League Two groove tomorrow.
Wrexham entertain Torquay United at The Racecourse (3pm kick off) after another
enforced two week break because of international call ups.
“I can’t wait for the match,” said Reds’ boss Smith, who has at least seen an
improvement on the club’s ever-growing injury list during the last fortnight.
“We’ve got players coming back and I’ve got decisions to make – the kind of
decisions I like making too. We’re at last seeing some light with the injuries
and I’ve only got four out tomorrow and that’s not bad for us.”
Lee Roche, Matty Crowell, Shaun Pejic and Jim Whitley are the ones missing out
against the struggling Gulls, while Smith will leave it to Dennis Lawrence to
see if he is physically and mentally fit to play.
Lawrence has been on World Cup duty with Trinidad and Tobago but he’ll phone
Smith this afternoon to tell him whether he’s okay to play or not.
“Dennis will be on a high after Trinidad’s result and apart from the last trip
when their plane went on fire, he’s always managed to get back and play well,”
added Smith.
TRAINING
Lawrence, who helped his country to the World Cup play-offs where they’ll face
Bahrain, was one of four players on international duty this week.
Mark Jones and Simon Spender, who were with Brian Flynn’s Welsh under 21 squad,
returned to training at Colliers Park yesterday while goalkeeper Michael Ingham,
who was on the bench for Northern Ireland was due back today.
“He was fit to make the bench for Northern Ireland so he should be alright for
us and he’ll start tomorrow’” added Smith, who will relegate young keeper,
Michael Jones to the bench.
Smith also has the added bonus of having Andy Holt (calf), Paul Warhurst (ankle)
and Paul Linwood (neck) available for what he would liked to have treated as a
new start to the season.
“It would have been good to see it like that, but because I’ve had players away
and players getting treatment for injuries, I’ve only had seven or eight players
to work with, so you can hardly say that we’ve done anything spectacular,” said
Smith, who, despite his side’s impressive home form, won’t be taking anything
for granted against Torquay.
“Everyone will be putting money on us to win but sometimes it’s not as easy as
that. Our home form is good, we’ve been playing well but we must stick to those
standards.
“People keep saying that we must win and with three away games coming up after
tomorrow, it’s important that we do get three points. But it’s too early to say
what bearing this will have on the league title. I’ll let you know that in May.
“Wycombe are the best team we’ve played so far but I can see a lot of faults for
them, while everyone I talk to says we’re the best team they’ve played.”
Making his 100th appearance for Wrexham tomorrow is midfielder Danny Williams,
who expected to line up alongside skipper Darren Ferguson in the centre of the
park.
And Smith will choose from Ingham, Warhurst, Lawrence, Linwood, Bayliss, Holt,
Smith, Bennett, Ferguson, Williams, Mark Jones, Foy, Walters, McEvilly, Michael
Jones, Spender and Mackin.
And Torquay include former Wrexham goalkeeper Andy Marriott in their side and
the 35-year-old shot-stopper, who spent five seasons at The Racecourse, is
looking forward to his return.
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Wrexham,” said Marriott. “They’ll
always be seen as my team.”
