Football League World
·18 October 2024
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·18 October 2024
FLW outline all the latest team and injury news for Rotherham United and Wrexham ahead of Saturday's League one fixture.
Rotherham United host Wrexham for a League One clash between two promotion hopefuls on Saturday afternoon in what will be their first meeting since December 2007.
Unfortunately for Rotherham, they were a side who were one of the few League One teams who didn’t see their game called off by international call-ups last weekend. Steve Evans faced off with former employers Peterborough United during an eventful 3-3 draw.
That leaves them languishing in mid-table, but the same cannot be said of high-flying Wrexham. So far, they have made the most of the chance to jump into promotion contention already, with the fight for a play-off berth wide open this year.
The Red Dragons may even go one further as they are currently inside the automatic promotion places. However, Phil Parkinson’s men endured something of a rough patch prior to the recent October international break. They drew 0-0 with Leyton Orient before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Stevenage.
Wrexham did get back to winning ways in their final clash before the most recent break when James McClean starred in a 4-1 win over Northampton Town. That has left the Dragons second in League One, two points behind leaders Birmingham City.
They had their contest with Lincoln City on 12 October postponed due to international call-ups within the Imps' squad and instead travel to South Yorkshire looking for another win to consolidate their automatic promotion spot. Their away record is much less impressive this season, though.
They face a Rotherham side who's performance-levels have largely been impressive, despite not having the results or points tally to show for it entirely. They seem to have turned a corner of late, as Rotherham have lost just one of their last eight league games (W3 D4) and will be looking to go five matches undefeated in succession for the first time since August 2022.
It's one of the standout fixtures in the third tier this weekend. Here, we have rounded up all the latest team news for both sides, including every player who is set to miss out.
Saturday's trip to Rotherham United is the beginning of another busy period for Wrexham, who have three games in seven days. They host Huddersfield Town next Tuesday before another away game against Charlton Athletic, which is three strong League One sides in succession.
They may well be stretched thin after Max Cleworth picked up an ankle injury against Leyton Orient, George Evans "felt something crack" in the clash against Stevenage and Luke Bolton is also currently sidelined with an issue.
Earlier this week, Parkinson spoke to the media and provided an injury update on the trio, and it is good news for the former of them, but Evans is a long-term absentee.
He said: “The squad is looking strong and we need everybody for the week ahead.
“Max is making good progress. He is back on the grass this week but we will know more over the next three or four days how quickly that progress is going to be.
“Luke is back in training which is great. He has had a problem with his foot but he did a lot of running last week and he has now joined in fully with the lads.
“George is going to be long term.”
Just as two key players are on the verge of returning from injury, captain Jonson Clarke-Harris is expected to miss the next three weeks, despite Evans' claim that he is a "quick healer". Clarke-Harris scored against his former club Peterborough United last weekend, but in doing so he managed to do damage to his hamstring. That goal put his side 3-1 up, but the Millers went on to draw 3-3 without his presence.
Andre Green is a long-term absentee with an achilles issue for the best part of a year, but Clarke-Harris is one of their key players and is a huge loss for the titanic clash with Wrexham. However, on the more positive side of things, Sean Raggett and Liam Kelly's absences could come to an end this Saturday. Defender Raggett has been out for a month through injury, whilst the experienced Kelly has missed the last seven weeks.
Speaking via The Yorkshire Post, Evans said: "Sean has been out training and so has Liam.
"Liam is probably a step nearer than Sean. He took part in a practice match on Monday and was really good, so that's a positive.
"Sean's slightly behind that but in contention for tomorrow. Both are available. Liam is probably 8/10 ready. He played in the practice match and has trained every day since.