Dragons need to fire back – Keates
WREXHAM boss Dean Keates has challenged his players to bounce back from the disappointment of their opening-day defeat by Macclesfield when they travel to Maidenhead United in the National League tonight.
A bumper crowd of more than 6,000 left the Racecourse somewhat disappointed after the Dragons were left empty-handed on Saturday with a spectacular firsthalf strike from Noe Baba resulting in the Silkmen taking all three points back to the North West.
However, Wrexham and their supporters could have no real complaints about the outcome after a lacklustre performance that exposed their lack of both creativity and a cutting edge up front.
Tonight’s opponents Maidenhead are newly-promoted promoted as last season’s champions of the National League South and began life in the division with a 1-1 draw at Maidstone United – their first-ever appearance at this level.
Former West Ham and England star Alan Devonshire is their manager, and his men salvaged a point thanks to Sam Barratt’s 88th-minute equaliser.
It’s a new-look Dragons side this season after a summer of rebuilding which has seen a dozen senior players depart and 13 players join – and Keates is confident they will get it right, starting tonight at York Road.
“There’s obviously a lot of disappointment from the weekend and we’re looking to bounce back,” he said.
“It’s their first home game in the division and we’re looking to spoil their party as we had done to us on the weekend.
“We’ll go down there, we’ve prepared right, we’ve looked back at the weekend and we’ll learn from our mistakes and be ready for the challenge ahead.
“We need to get some points on the board; there was an unbelievable turnout and optimism’s high around the place.
“It was the first game and we’d like to have got off to a good start being at home with that turnout, but it has not happened.
“We can’t dwell on it too much and we have to be ready for the Maidenhead task.”