Another tough challenge awaits as The Cards arrive following a spectacular away win.

Wrexham and Woking come into the game tied on points and occupying the last play-off spots, although The Cards have a game in hand.

Wrexham's preparations are dominated by hopes that Paul Mullin's knee injury won't cause Phil Parkinson a pre-match head ache. The striker missed last Saturday's draw at Southend, failing a fitness test on the morning of the match, but Parkinson was quick to play the injury down to the press.

Parkinson saw four of his strikers looking sharp in front of goal during pre-season, and reaped the benefit as Dior Angus stepped up to strike the equaliser which earned a point.

Woking's start to the season has been inconsistent, with a home defeat to Halifax separating two away wins. A switch to three at the back led to a spectacular victory in their last match, as they took last season's play-off finalists Torquay on their own turf.

After 6 minutes they were already 2-0 up, a just reward for a tremendously fast-paced start. They ended up 4-0 winners, the physical spine of the side dominating The Gulls. In front of a towering back three, featuring sky-scraping National League stalwart Moussa Diarra, Solomon Nwabuokei and Rohan Ince are a powerful duo in the centre of the park who lack nothing when it comes to energy.

Woking's promising start coincides with the decision to go full-time, a bold step when COVID-19 has punched a hole in football's finances. Assistant Manager Martin Tyler (yes, that Martin Tyler) feels that's no coincidence, and paid tribute to his board for having the courage to make the step.

 They’ve backed the way we have gone about preparing this season going full-time. This weekend, the players came down straight after the game on Saturday. It was finely planned, eating on the coach, doing the right things on Sunday, they had some hydrotherapy, all the things we haven’t been able to do as a part-time team. I think you saw the results on the pitch.

A familiar face returning to The Racecourse is Jordan Maguire-Drew, who scored 3 goals in 15 starts when on loan in 2018. His magnificent goal at Maidenhead, in a victory which propelled us to the top of the table, will live long in the memory.

With a pair of in-form teams clashing in front of a passionate crowd, with talented match-winners on either side, this is the National League's hot ticket of the day and, as the Woking Assistant Manager would agree, IT'S LIVE!

Listen to the game live on our club commentary.

WOKING'S STARTING LINE-UP AGAINST TORQUAY

HEAD TO HEAD

Apart from being our biggest win in this fixture, our 4-0 win at Woking last April was also the first time we’ve beaten them in three consecutive games.

We’re also unbeaten in 7 games against The Cards, stretching back to 2016, when a 2-0 away defeat was also the last time we failed to score against them.

We’ve won our last 4 home games against Woking – another first for us – and haven’t conceded a goal to them at The Racecourse in 304 minutes.

Last season we had to wait until the last minute of the first half to open the scoring, when Dior Angus rounded off a fine move in style to register his first Wrexham goal. Luke Young made the points safe with a 65th minute penalty.

In January 2020 our home victory was more emphatic. Luke Summerfield gave a virtuoso performance, scoring twice and dominating the middle of the pitch, and Dan Jarvis snatched what, at the moment, is his only Wrexham goal in a 3-0 win.

The season before, James Jennings scored the only goal from a corner just before the break, and second half goals from John Rooney and Robbie Evans earned a 2-1 win in January 2017.

We matched that 3-0 scoreline in November 2014, when Neil Ashton, Andy Bishop and Wes York scored in an FA Cup first round victory.

The Cards’ first game at Wrexham, in December 2008, saw Marc Williams give us the lead with a header from a Wes Baynes corner, but with quarter of an hour left Woking equalised to emerge with a point.

We enjoyed our first win against them on the first day of the following season. Rob Ogleby and Dean Keates both hit the net before the break, and an attempted Woking fightback was halted when Mark Creighton launched himself at a corner to score with a typically heroic header to make it 3-1.

The following season, Keates scored again, and a fine last minute goal by Joe Clarke, who burst through the Woking defence before firing him, clinched a 2-0 win.

Woking have enjoyed success at The Racecourse too, though. Their last win was in January 2016, when they won 3-1 despite Dom Vose scoring a brilliant free kick.

They also won 2-1 in August 2014, with Louis Moult scoring our goal.

Last Match
17/4/21 Woking 0 Wrexham 4 (Luke Young pen 37, Reece Hall-Johnson 51, Jordan Davies 90+1, Gold Omotayo 90+6)
Woking
C Ross, M Diarra, J Cook, B Gerring, C Cooper, M Kretzschmar (S Evans, 84), K Ferdinand, K Lofthouse, T Block (P Hodges, 63), S Dalby, Z Robinson (J Smith, 88) Subs not used: J Skinner, L Hamblin

Wrexham
C Dibble, F Kelleher, J Davies, J Reckord, S Pearson, P Rutherford (J Harris, 73), R Hall-Johnson (T French, 85), M Carrington, L Young, G Omotayo, D Angus (C Sang, 88) Subs not used: K Marsh-Brown, D Redmond

Referee: David Richardson

Bookings:
Woking –

Wrexham – Davies

Red Cards:
None

POTENTIAL MILESTONESLuke Young's 125th league appearance for Wrexham.