WREXHAM remain embroiled in a relegation battle but Dean Keates stressed the importance of the Reds' fate remaining in their own hands at a crucial stage of the season.

Saturday's goalless draw against fellow strugglers Eastleigh at The Racecourse keeps Wrexham two points above the National League drop zone in 19th position with nine games to go.

It was a drab affair with few clear cut chances created throughout at either end, although on-loan Reds' striker Jordan Ponticelli had a goal ruled out for offside.

Wrexham head to leaders Barrow, who were beaten 2-0 at home by Notts County on Saturday, this weekend and Keates remain upbeat about his side's chances of securing safety.

"It is a crucial time for everybody, for me and the players, it is a crunch time for the football club," said Keates.

"It is in our hands, we are not talking about being cut adrift or anything like that.

"We have got a difficult game at Barrow but whether it is top of the table or not, every game in this division is difficult.

"The lads will give absolutely everything and if we can get them fine margins decisions go our way, which we are due one, all being well we come back with three points.

"Whether they lost or not, and this is no disrespect to Barrow, we will be going up there looking to win the game.

"We tried our best on Saturday and one or two things didn't go our way; there were little bits that we are accountable for and weren't good enough but we actually got the ball in the back of the net and it was a deserved goal but the linesman decided to give it the opposite way."

Both sides struggled to carve out notable chances at a windswept Racecourse but it looked as though Ponticelli had won it for Wrexham after heading home Davis Keillor-Dunn's cross in the second half.

The striker was deemed to be offside but Keates, who saw Wrexham struggle to break down a resilient Eastleigh, felt the goal should have stood.

"I have seen it back and from the moment if leaves Davis's foot, until he heads it, not at any point is he offside," said Keates.

"They are the fine margins of football.

"There is no point me crucifying or going mad about the linesman, he has got a decision to make and he made the wrong decision.

"We were on the wrong end of one last week and we had one again.

"You can get frustrated and it makes your blood boil but at the end of the day, they are human and they make mistakes.

"You hope over the course of the season, or over the next nine games, that they even itself out and we get one or two that go our way.

"Take nothing about from Eastleigh with how they performed and what they came here to get and what they came here to do, we just needed a goal to bring them out a little bit more and if we had got one early on, it would have opened the game up as they were very compact and played from a deep block."

Keates, still without seven-goal injured striker JJ Hooper, made one change from the side that lost 3-0 at high-flying Yeovil the previous weekend with the fit-again Mark Carrington replacing on-loan Tyler Garratt in the left-wing back role.

The Reds' boss was delighted to have Carrington, the longest serving player in the squad, back after a four-game absence following an ankle problem.

"Mark has been a miss," said Keates.

"I thought he was outstanding at Harrogate, it ballooned up after the game and it has taken its time to shake it off.

"It gives us competition for places."