ELLIOTT DURRELL is confident Dean Keates will get Wrexham’s National League promotion push back on track.

The Reds have endured their worst ever season, slumping to the foot of the National League table in December after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Ebbsfleet.

Keates dragged Wrexham out of the drop zone but were hovering above the bottom four by just a single point when the season was ended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Durrell can’t quite believe what’s happened at The Racecourse as Wrexham went from losing in the play-off eliminator to Eastleigh last season to battling it out at the wrong end of the table this term.

“It’s definitely been one of the most disappointing seasons they’ve had at this level - if not the most disappointing,” said Durrell, who spent around 18 months at The Racecourse after being signed by Andy Morrell from Hednesford.

“If the season is null and void for the vast majority of teams it will the ideal outcome because a line can be drawn in the sand.

“There’s no doubt that Wrexham should be at the top of that league given their infrastructure and the backing they receive.”

And Durrell believes Keates, a one-time team-mate at The Racecourse, is the man to help lead Wrexham up the division - and hopefully back into the Football League for the first time since 2008.

“Keatesy will do what he does best,” said Durrell, now plying his trade with National League North promotion-chasers Altrincham.

“It is always tough going back after the way the first spell ended and with the position the club were in when he got the call from Walsall, who mean a lot to him.

“But he will be working hard to get the squad he wants because he’s inherited a lot of players from the managers who have left since he was last there.

“He was a big part of the club when I signed at Wrexham and I wish him all the best in trying to get Wrexham promoted. He will get them heading in the right direction again and I’m sure him and Darlo can get Wrexham back challenging at the top of the division.”

Durrell, who had a successful season at arch-rivals Chester, is no stranger to winning promotion from the National League after helping Macclesfield clinch the title in 2017/18.

Macclesfield were run close by the likes of Tranmere, Sutton and Wrexham, whose form dipped after Keates headed for the Bescot Stadium in the March of that season, eventually missing out on a play-off place.

“In his first stint there Wrexham were flying high - it was actually the year we won it with Macclesfield,” recalled Durrell. “I remember Wrexham challenging us at the top and playing them in early December and us winning 4-1 in the snow, which came down heavily inside 10 minutes of the game kicking off.

“We kicked on from that moment and managed to win the title, which was fantastic.”