WEALDSTONE will be hoping lightening strikes twice when they face Wrexham tomorrow.

When the sides met for the first time ever at ‎Grosvenor Vale‎ in October, the Stones - promoted as National League South champions last season - were still looking for their first win in the fifth tier since 1988.

Not only did they seal a 4-3 victory but Wealdstone went from strength to strength, registering five successive wins.

That enabled the Stones to climb from the bottom of the National League up to second place, just two points behind leaders Torquay.

But Wealdstone have struggled to maintain that form and they have only picked up one win in 13 league outings since that excellent run ended in mid-November.

Although they beat Weymouth 2-1 at home on December 12, Wealdstone have had little else to shout about after picking up four draws but losing eight times.

That dreadful sequence has seen Wealdstone slip to 19th position going into the second meeting with Wrexham, and manager Dean Brennan has left the club.

Brennan led the club to promotion but he stepped down on February 2 with the Stones six points above the relegation zone but on a run of four successive defeats.

Assistant Stuart Maynard was placed in temporary charge but he has been unable to revive Wealdstone’s fortunes.

His first game as manager ended with Wealdstone being knocked out of the FA Trophy by lower league Darlington after losing 4-1 in the fifth round.

Wealdstone picked up a 1-1 draw with high-flying Torquay, who needed a stoppage time equaliser, but then went down 4-1 at Sutton on Saturday before drawing 0-0 with Eastleigh at Grosvenor Vale in midweek.‎

It leaves the Stones, who voted in favour of ending the National League season early and declaring it null and void because of financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, without a league victory in seven outings.

Improving the defensive record will be key to Wealdstone climbing the table.

The Stones have shipped 44 goals in 21 outings with only second bottom Barnet, who have conceded 52 times, having a worst statistic in the division.

“We’ve got a good squad and we’re happy to work with it on the training ground,” said Maynard.

“We’ve been more structured in the sense that we’re working a hell of a lot more defensively now.

“We know we’ve conceded a lot of goals this season and that’s our main focus really, to stop shipping goals. We know we’ll always score goals because we’ve got good attacking players in the team.

“We can’t keep relying on outscoring the opposition because you just don’t get any long-term success that way. We’ll still look to attack teams but there’s different ways of doing it.”

It remains to be seen if Maynard will become Brennan’s successor on a permanent basis.

Brennan stepped down as manager due to tensions behind the scenes, saying that he was “becoming uncomfortable” with the relationship between chairman Rory Fitzgerald and Maynard which was one of the reasons behind his departure.

Maynard is just focussed on leading Wealdstone away from the drop zone but hasn’t ruled out taking the job on a permanent basis.

“My focus is just on the football club now and bringing the team forward,” he added.

“I’m in charge for the foreseeable future so we’ll just see where it takes us.”