It's second against third as Woking look to derail Wrexham's title challenge for a second season.
Another excellent home win last Saturday briefly put Phil Parkinson's side top of the table, but added to the injury issues the manager's having to deal with. Aaron Hayden and Jordan Tunnicliffe remain on the sidelines, and both Callum McFadzean and Tom O'Connor had to go off at the break against Woking.
While the duo's injuries are assessed, Max Cleworth and Harry Lennon will be in contention for a centre back berth, and Parkinson will have to decide whether Jacob Mendy's recovery means he'll be able to build on his excellent second half showing on Saturday with a full 90 minutes. If not, Liam McAlinden will be waiting in the wings, with Bryce Hosannah probably needing more minutes under his belt before making his own return from injury.
Woking, meanwhile, have recovered from 4 losses in their first 9 games to put themselves in position to claim a home semi-final spot in the play-offs. They showed hints of their promise at the end of last season when they pulled off a goalless draw at Chesterfield and beat Wrexham 2-1, a result which was a significant blow to the Red Dragons' hopes of overtaking Stockport County.
They returned to Chesterfield a week ago and reinforced their promotion credentials with a superb 3-1 victory. Last Saturday they dropped two home points to in-form Boreham Wood, but in doing so they showed terrific fighting spirit, fighting back from 2-0 down to clinch a point through two goals by Rhys Browne. That took his league total to 9 goals in 11 starts since joining on loan from Wealdstone. Having already hit 7 for the Stones this season, only 3 strikers have managed more in the National League this season.
Manager Darren Sarll has been keen to manage expectations, telling the Woking News and Mail, “Every game now has that little bit more anticipation; a little bit of edge to it because everyone starts getting a little bit giddy thinking we’re almost at the promised land [promotion to League Two] which we’re not and we’re nowhere near.
“There’s going to be games where we’re going to be tested like we’ve not been tested before. There’s going to be games where we get beat. That’s going to happen. We’ve done well thus far but there’s a few bumps in the road ahead."
Wrexham has become, for the teams in the division now, especially at Wrexham, almost a glamour tie. It’s 9,000 [fans] in the ground. They create a very, very big atmosphere and there’s a huge expectation on that team to dominate everyone that goes there and they’ve done that this year. We’ll definitely go and try to conquer that supposedly insurmountable mountain when it comes around.
-Darren Sarll
Jordan Davies struck the only goal when Woking visited The Racecourse last season.
The season before, Dior Angus opened the scoring with his first Wrexham goal, and Luke Young made sure of the three points from the spot.
Our biggest home league win over The Cards saw Luke Summerfield score twice in a superb performance,while Dan Jarvis scored the other in a 3-0 win.
An early season clash in August 2017 saw James Jennings pinch the only goal from Manny Smith as his header was crossing the line!
The season before, John Rooney and Robbie Evans grabbed the goals in a 2-1 win, with all 3 goals coming in a dramatic 9-minute period early in the second period..
Despite a fine Dom Vose free kick cancelling out Rhys Taylor's early own goal, Gary Mills' experiemntal line-up failed in January 2016.
That 3-0 league win in 2020 matched an FA Cup victory in 2014.
In August 2014 Woking managed their first win at The Racecourse, despite a Louis Moult goal.
Our first win over Woking was on the opening day of the 2012-13 season, with Rob Ogleby, Dean Keates and Mark Creighton all hitting the net in a 3-1 win.
POTENTIAL MILESTONES
Eoghan O’Connell’s 200th league match.
Jacob Mendy’s 150th career appearance.
Callum McFadzean’s 50th Wrexham appearance.