No walk in park for Dragons

IT SOUNDS a little off the wall, but beating Stevenage Borough 5-0 on the opening day of the season might not have been the best thing for relegated Wrexham, as things have turned out.

Nearly 5,000 fans turned up at the Racecourse Ground to enjoy the fun, and many assumed that Brian Little's rebuilt team would embark on a stately progress towards promotion back to the Football League.

Seven weeks later, and Red Dragons fans have booed Little's men off the pitch after defeats at Grays last Saturday and then, on Tuesday night, 3-0 at home to Rushden.

Indeed, four defeats in five games has left Little under some pressure.

At 54, the former Darlington, Leicester, Aston Villa, Stoke, WBA, Hull and Tranmere boss is one of the most experienced managers in the game.

And, in that first spell at Darlington, he took the Quakers back up after they had been relegated to the Conference in 1990.

On paper, Wrexham look strong in all the right places and, on their good days, they have been effective, with wins over Stevenage, Oxford, Salisbury away and Ebbsfleet.

There's no shortage of experience in goal, where first-choice Gavin Ward, now with his 14th club plus loan spells at several others, is 38 years old and reserve Anthony Williams (Hartlepool, Grimsby, Carlisle) is 31.

In defence, Little has plenty of options, but lately he's been going for ex-Huddersfield and Lincoln all-rounder Nat Brown and former Tranmere youngster Carl Tremarco at full-back.

Former Welsh international Steve Evans and Darran Kempson, who had spells with Morecambe and Shrewsbury, have been at centre-back.

There ought to be real danger on the wings, where ex-Accrington player Shaun Whalley and Sam Aiston both have pace and trickery.

Aiston, 31, is a lanky veteran of spells with Newcastle, Sunderland, Shrewsbury, Tranmere and Northampton.

In the middle ex-Everton prospect Tom Kearney arrived from Halifax in the summer, while Levin Mackin returned from a loan spell at Droylsden last season. He scored against the Gulls at the Butchers Arms ground.

Little has tried several combinations up front, nearly all of them involving 6ft 3in tall targetman Jefferson Louis (see Player To Watch).

Whalley and ex-Mansfield forward Simon Brown have had a go, and against Rushden in midweek Little paired Louis with fit-again ex-Sunderland, Rotherham and Hartlepool striker Michael Proctor.

Proctor has scored 12 goals in 26 starts for Wrexham, so Little might well give him another chance to regain top form.

Simon Spender, Mike Williams, Wes Baynes, Neil Taylor and recently sidelined ex-Torquay loanee Kyle Critchell are all back-up defenders, while midfielder Christian Smith arrived from Clyde in the summer and Marc Williams, 20, is a young striker who has come through the local ranks.