Steve’s here to stay says Smith

By Mark Currie, Daily Post

22 December 2006

WREXHAM manager Denis Smith yesterday rubbished speculation that central defender Steve Evans would be leaving the League Two club when the January transfer window opens.

It’s been rumoured the Wales international, currently serving a four-match suspension after being sent off at Boston United earlier this month, is a transfer target for Championship strugglers Leeds United, but the Dragons’ boss flatly denied any interest from anywhere about any of his players and insisted he was concentrating more on strengthening his squad next month.

“You can rule that out,” he said. “There has not been any contact whatsoever from any club about any of the players here.

“With Mark Jones – about whom there is always transfer speculation – currently out injured for the next six weeks it seems to me to be a case of fans asking themselves who else can we sell?”

Smith, who has already seen Trinidad international defender Dennis Lawrence move to Swansea City since the start of the season, confirmed his intention to try and make a couple of loan signings in the New Year with the primary aim of covering the absence of Jones, who needs a cartilage operation and will be out of action until at least February.

“In terms of strikers, where the problem has been up to now, Lee McEvilly is back training and involved to some extent in games,” he added. “Juan Ugarte should be fit to play within the week and Neil Roberts, too, is not far away. So by the time the transfer window re-opens, we should be okay in that department.

“I’m looking to bring in a couple of players and I’ve been in touch with the clubs involved about their availability, but whether I’ll be able to get them to come here, given the situation in which we currently find ourselves, I don’t yet know.”

But of more immediate concern to the Racecourse boss is his team selection for tomorrow’s home match against Darlington, which kicks off the hectic Christmas programme. Jones, Roberts, Ugarte and the suspended Evans are all definitely out and a further seven players were in the treatment room yesterday.

“We had to finish training early this morning because we didn’t have enough people out there,” said the Wrexham boss yesterday. “At the moment I’m hoping that the majority of knocks are minor and we will have to wait and see what the morning brings.

“Even Chris Llewellyn missed training today with a pulled muscle, which is the first time ever during both his spells with us that has happened.”

Opponents Darlington, who have lost their last four matches after a six-match winning run following the appointment of manager Dave Penney, have been warned to buck their ideas up by captain Patrick Collins.

The Quakers felt particularly hard done by after last week’s defeat at the hands of Notts County, but the defender insisted his team-mates had only themselves to blame for their loss of form.

“We’re turning into a soft touch with losing the last four and we’ve got to sort things out,” said Collins.

“It’s hard to put a finger on where went wrong on Saturday because recently it’s been our defending – and I’ll hold my hands up because I’ve been a part of that – but we’ve got to buck our ideas up and sort it out.

“Like many other players, I don’t want to be playing in this division.”