JUST IN: Wrexham to be without a key player

There’ll be no James McClean for us on Saturday – and it’s a terrible shame.

It’s a shame he’ll be missing, as the Tranmere derby is a fierce encounter, and it’s hard to think of a player more suited to transfer the passion of the fans onto the pitch.

McClean playing in the middle of midfield feels a bit like a cheat code, doesn’t it?

He’s made a massive contribution to our season already from left wing back, but since switching to midfield he’s been immense.

When we signed him, the excited reaction said it all. Here was a player who might be in his mid-thirties, but was consistently excelling in a higher division last season. Wigan fans were heartbroken to see him go, which says so much.

He brought with him obvious qualities: terrific energy; raw strength; a terrific left foot; and an advanced ability to read the game. He also offers presence, which can be invaluable.

Presence in an intangible thing, but there’s no question McClean has it in spades. There have been games this season where things haven’t quite gone his way, and yet he rarely gets substituted, and I don’t want him to be.

Just having him out there gives you the hope that he’s about to do something which will massively influence the game.

I dare say his opponents are keen to see him depart, given the relentless way he approaches his individual battles on the pitch.

He is, in some ways, an all-or-nothing player. His fearsome commitment in the tackle sometimes means he’ll go in prematurely and be beaten.

His set pieces are torn in with such menacing intent that they go astray if they don’t precisely hit the target. But when they hit the target, there’s no way of defending them.

In that regard he suits the gutsy, all-in nature of Wrexham AFC. Our support is vigorous; the atmosphere visceral.

The atmosphere at the STōK Cae Ras isn’t the manufactured, artificial experience you get at many Premier League grounds; it’s nature, red in tooth and claw.

It’s the perfect environment for McClean, a footballer who draws strength from supporters and channels his emotions to such an extent that they become as important as his undoubted technical qualities. He is all Wrexham’s passionate qualities incarnate.

Conversely, McClean also thrives off the negative energy of others: it gives him energy.

He reminds me of Gary Bennett. Opposing fans loved goading him, and he lapped it up, growing in determination.

He wanted to throw their words back in their faces, fuelled by their anger.

I fondly recall a game at Crewe when he got all manner of nastiness from the home fans. Funnily enough, the abuse reduced in direct correlation to the goals he scored.

We can view McClean as the ultimate representation of a fan on the pitch. We have all experienced those moments where we yearn for our team to push that little bit harder, strain that little bit more and squeeze out that final drop of effort.

To be fair, I’d say every player in the current squad does that, but McClean really wears it on his sleeve.

That’s why it’s such a shame he’ll miss the Tranmere game, which is just about as raw as football gets.

He’d be going into every tackle as if he’d been a Wrexham fan all his life.

In recent years our home record against Tranmere has been nowhere near as good as our away results.

In fact, since the cataclysmic 5-0 beating we took in September 2001 which gave the board the opportunity to remove Brian Flynn as manager, we’ve won five, drawn one and lost one at Prenton Park.

In North Wales, however, it’s a very different manner.

You have to go all the way back to April 1988 for our last home win in this fixture.

It was over as a contest pretty quickly as Kevin Russell opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Geoff Hunter doubled our lead 10 minutes later. Ollie Kearns rounded off the scoring in the last minute.

Since then we’ve entertained them eight times, drawing four and losing four.

One of those defeats was a notable affair for all the wrong reasons as we lost 5-1, made memorable for it being part of Xabi Valero’s bizarre game and a half stint between the sticks for Wrexham.

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