Wrexham AFC boss Gary Mills running his eye over striker Jason Scotland
By Rob Griffiths (Daily Post)
Gary Mills is hoping to pile the misery on the English in Saturday’s cross-border derby at Chester and could be helped out by Scotland.
Mills is running his eye over former Trinidad and Tobago international Jason Scotland with a view to signing the striker ahead of Saturday’s short trip to the Deva Stadium.
Wrexham lost leading scorer James Gray to a broken hand following last Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Grimsby Town, the striker picking up the injury after bundling the ball home only to see his effort chalked out for offside.
Scotland, who counts Swansea City as one of his former clubs, was training with the Dragons on Monday and will play some part in a reserves match on Tuesday.
Mills reported no further injuries following Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at the Racecourse to Eastleigh, the first loss at home this season, and spoke about the prospect of bringing in free agent Scotland.
“Everybody is okay,” said Mills. “Obviously James (Fyfield) being sent off means he won’t be in contention for Saturday, but other than that everybody is fine.
“I’ve got somebody in today, Jason Scotland who has been well known in Wales, he is training with us today and will play in the reserves tomorrow so we are hoping that goes well.
“He is a quality striker and he is available, so we have been working on that in the last week, I’ve done well to keep that from you two (the media), and he is in today to train with us, so he will play in the reserves tomorrow and we are hoping everything goes well and then we will take it from there.
“He has come down from Glasgow today and we want to bring a striker in and we are talking quality, and looking forward to seeing him today and tomorrow.”
Wrexham head into Saturday’s eagerly awaited derby at Chester on the back of a disappointing 3-2 loss at home to the Spitfires, another match in which the Dragons dominated but could not press home their advantage.
Eastleigh took two of only three notable first half chances to go in at the break with a lead, Jai Reason and Andy Drury both firing home, before a second half fight back saw Wes York and Sean Newton level the scores. However, Wrexham were rocked in the 87th minute as Ben Strevens headed home Joe Partington’s cross to seal the win for the visitors.
And Mills is now hoping for a reaction from his charges at the Deva next weekend.
He added: “We are in a great position, still in the top five, and have everything to play for on Saturday. Hopefully we can bounce back and get three points like we have done previously.
“I think what is important is that nobody gets frustrated by the fact that it is another game we should have won, frustrations can get you down, what I want to be is realistic, and the realism is that we could have won the game, I won’t say quite easily, but we could have won the game, and we could have won the game on Tuesday against Grimsby.
“We haven’t and as a football manager if I let frustration get me down then I will be out of a job very, very quickly. You have to bounce back, we get on it again today and I think the players have been exceptional, unbelievable this season, and we will train again this week and prepare for next Saturday.
“Last Saturday has gone, of course you look at reasons why we have conceded three goals, but I am not one to over analyse because that creates too many issues and too many problems, and you move onto the next game and it is my job to make sure I put the right team out there.”
Mills is well aware of the expectation heading into Saturday’s encounter, and after watching Wales claim victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday night, the Dragons boss is hopeful he can keep the Welsh all smiles.
“I’ve never been reminded so much of something in my whole life, before I even put pen to paper and it is the most important thing to everybody,” said Mills.
“I am under no illusions, I understand (what it means) but obviously as manager I know if we win we are not going to get six points, we’ll still only get three, but I understand the bragging rights the Welsh have got over the English at the moment.
“Being an Englishman lets hope that is the situation on Saturday, and Wales are smiling again come 5pm.”
