STARTING at centre-back in the FA Trophy final was less of a surprise to Tom O'Connor than some people.

The midfielder joined Wrexham from Burton Albion in the January transfer window but after starting four games, the 23-year-old sustained a hamstring injury and spent two months on the sidelines.

When he returned to the fold, O'Connor made three substitute appearances during the run-in before he lined up in defence for Sunday's cup final where the Reds suffered a 1-0 defeat against Bromley at Wembley.

Phil Parkinson's team selection raised a few eyebrows but O'Connor is no stranger to the centre-half role.

"I haven't played there for a while," said O'Connor.

"I used to play left sided of the back three with Southampton under 23s for a season or two so I do know the position.

"I don't think I played there for Burton but last season I played a few games as centre-back in a back-four with Gillingham so it wasn't totally out of the blue.

"I played all my football at Burton as a midfielder so I can understand why it would be a surprise to some people who only see me as a midfielder."

O'Connor admits it was frustrating to pick up an injury so soon after completing his high profile move to The Racecourse.

"It as frustrating, we were just starting to pick up and the Chesterfield game where I got injured was like a turning point; Chesterfield were above us and that win gave us a lot of confidence to push up the table," said O'Connor.

"The boys got a lot of good results which made it a bit easier but it is never nice being injured.

"I have been back for a few weeks now and had to sit on the bench watching, the lads have been doing great to be fair.

"It is hard to sit on the bench, obviously I prefer playing but sometimes you have to be patient.

"I have been ready to play every week, it was just a matter of waiting for the call-up.

"Although the result or the performance wasn't the best it was nice to be back out there starting on Sunday."