This afternoon, Wrexham will travel to Colchester United, a struggling team, in an attempt to get back on track.
On Tuesday night, Phil Parkinson’s team missed an opportunity to exact revenge on their opponents.
Despite points being dropped by MK Dons, Barrow, and Crewe Alexandra, Wrexham lost 1-0 to Doncaster Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium.
Advocates viewed that outcome as a squandered chance, since the goal was to surpass the Dons by five points; instead, the difference is still two.
Parkinson must think about making changes to his starting lineup for today’s game even though Wrexham is still very much in the lead in the promotion race.
Tom O’Connor should start at center back in favor of George Evans, who should start at the base of the midfield. Another excellent player ought to be given serious consideration for the starting position.
Parkinson revealed that Luke Bolton’s substitution at halftime against Doncaster was solely tactical. Luke Bolton was dropped at halftime against Doncaster.
The Wrexham manager, who decided to substitute Ryan Barnett for Bolton, stated: “I just felt we needed Barney’s bit of quality, Bolts has been great for us.” However, I thought that Ryan should be playing; he showed flashes, a terrific opportunity to score, and several well-placed crosses.
“Yeah, Bolts wasn’t so fortunate, but sometimes you have to make a choice,” the player said.
With six crosses into the box, two precise long balls, and 15 of his 19 passes completed, the “wizard” undoubtedly left an offensive impression on Rovers.
The statistics back up his contention that he should start against Colchester, even though his second-half performance suggests otherwise.
The numbers demonstrating why Ryan Barnett ought to start against Colchester
Even though Barnett signed Bolton from Salford City, a League Two competitor, Barnett has shown he is more capable than his colleague at playing in that wing-back position, especially when called upon to defend.
In terms of defensive measures, Barnett has outperformed Bolton in ground duels won, balls recovered, clearances per game, and aerial duels won.
Their attacking stats, however, read rather closely.
These are their season-long statistics as compared by Sofascore.
- Games – Barnett (27), Bolton (32)
- Assists – Barnett (3), Bolton (6)
- Big chances created – Barnett (10), Bolton (10)
- Balls recovered per game – Barnett (2.9), Bolton (2.7)
- Ground duels won – Barnett (62%), Bolton (47%)
- Aerial duels won – Barnett (62%), Bolton (33%)
- Dribbled past per game – Barnett (0.2), Bolton (1)
There is little to separate the two in attack, but Barnett appears to be the better one-on-one defender and having performed well off the bench against Doncaster, he deserves to return to the starting XI this afternoon.
