DEAN SAUNDERS believes his Wrexham squad can cope with the demands of a hectic end of season schedule.
Saturday’s clash against Crawley Town at The Racecourse is the first of 18 remaining matches that Wrexham have to play in the final nine weeks of the season.
Wrexham’s fixture backlog has been caused by the postponement of eight matches because of the weather in December and January, while Sunday’s derby at Chester City was called off because the Blues were served with a prohibition notice on the Deva Stadium by Cheshire West and Chester Council.
And while Wrexham will be playing most midweeks between now and the end of the campaign, Saunders has no complaints and wants to see his players, the majority of whom are out of contract in the summer, fight for the cause.
“They have had a bit of a breather, this is the start of the onslaught of games we have coming up,” said Saunders, whose side were last in action a week ago when they drew 0-0 with Tamworth.
“The players have to dig deep, they can have a holiday in the summer. That is when they they can have their rest. For the next two months they’ve got to dedicate themselves to football, which they should do anyway.
“Some of their futures are up for grabs so they have got to give it everything and knuckle down.
“They have got to make sure they rest and recover from matches and get ready for the next one.”
As a result of not playing at the weekend, Wrexham have slipped to 15th position in the Blue Square Premier table, 17 points behind Luton Town, who occupy the final play-off berth, with a game in hand.
Saunders admits Wrexham will have to win a large percentage of their final 18 games if they are to secure a play-off berth and he is looking for the Reds to embark of the kind of unbeaten run they experienced to 2010, when ten points were accumulated from a possible 12.
“There are 50-odd points to play for. We have got to win a lot of games,” he said.
“We have seen what happens when you win three games.
“Unfortunately we lost a bit of ground by not playing again at the weekend but I have told them if we string three or four wins together quickly we will be up there.”
Saunders gave his players the weekend off but preparations are well under way for Saturday’s visit of Crawley Town: “We have worked on a few things I was not happy with against Tamworth,” said Saunders.
“I was not happy with the second half and the things we did wrong, and we got away with some of the defending. We will try and keep improving.”
The break has also given Gareth Taylor time to recover from an ankle problem that has kept the striker out of Wrexham’s last five matches.
And while he doesn’t think ten-goal leading scorer Taylor will be available for tomorrow’s reserve team match against Blackpool at Buckley Town’s Globe Way, Saunders hopes the frontman will be passed fit for the weekend.
“It has given Gareth a bit of time to recover and I will see how he is at the end of the week,” said Saunders.
“I don’t think he will be ready for the reserve team game.
“Gareth had a go last week but had a bit of a setback, the ankle swelled up. He had a break from the treatment and was back at it yesterday. Hopefully he will okay for Saturday.”
Saunders has not ruled out signing a replacement on loan if Taylor is still troubled by the injury.
“I will see how Gareth recovers, but I have always got that option open to me as we go along,” said Saunders.
Saunders is definitely without one other striker, Marc Williams, who is likely to miss the rest of the season after a recurrence of the metatarsal break he suffered nearly a year ago.
Williams, who requires an operation, is out of contract in the summer but Saunders said that the Wales under 21 international should not worry about his future.
“I won’t leave Marc in the lurch, I won’t leave him out to dry,” said Saunders. “Marc has been at the club since he was a boy and I try and look after players. I have told him not to worry about it and to just concentrate on getting fit.”
But defender Frank Sinclair should return from a thigh strain in the next few weeks.
“Frank is going to be another two or three weeks,” added Saunders. “That is a blow for us.”