MILLS IN DEFIANCE OF ANGRY FANS!

GARY Mills sent out a defiant message to disgruntled supporters after seeing his shot-shy Wrexham held in a lacklustre stalemate with cross-border rivals Chester at the Racecourse.

Neither side registered a shot on target all afternoon and, although the Dragons have now conceded only one goal in extending their unbeaten home run to six matches this season, the final whistle was greeted with a smattering of boos.

But Mills had a blunt message for those frustrated supporters who are beginning to question whether he is the right man for the job with Wrexham sitting in the bottom half of the table, six points adrift of the play-off places.

“My players have worked so hard as a team today to get a result for this club, but it may not be enough now to please certain people,” Mills said.

“Let’s talk about the ones (fans) that are clapping and are behind us because when you pick up a point like this at the end of the season it becomes important.

“I want to win football matches, everybody does, but I’m not going to stop smiling.

“If Wrexham FC want me as their manager then great, but if they don’t I move on. I’ve moved on before either by choice or not, but while I’m here I’ll give it absolutely everything I’ve got.”

Mills added: “I’m a football manager, I love my job and I’m enjoying working here at Wrexham and I’ll continue to do that. Not only am I a football manager, but I’m a good football manager and I love the job.”

An early goal would certainly have settled the restless home supporters but Michael Bakare squandered a great chance in the fifth minute, heading John Rooney’s inviting cross wide of the target.

And that set the pattern for much of the remainder of the game with the Dragons carving out the better opportunities but failing to deliver an end product when it really mattered.

Wrexham’s often promising build-up lacked an end product in and around the penalty area and Rooney’s accuracy from setpieces was also found wanting, but the key ingredient missing for the home side was any pace up front to stretch the visitors’ defence.

With a stiff wind in their faces during the opening 45 minutes, Chester appeared happy to sit back, soak up the pressure and look to use the pace of James Alabi and Kane Richards on the break, but the young pair got little change from Wrexham’s experienced back line that was superbly marshalled by Curtis Tilt.

Bakare was guilty of another miss on the half hour, although the opportunity was more testing than his earlier effort, and Shaun Harrad opted for the spectacular with an ambitious overhead kick that flew high and wide just before the break.

Chester’s best spell of the match came immediately after the restart and Wrexham goalkeeper Shwan Jalal was relieved to see a Ryan Lloyd effort clear his crossbar on 49 minutes before Elliott Durrell was similarly off-target soon after.

But with neither side pre- pared to go for broke a stalemate was almost inevitable and visiting boss Jon McCarthy was happy to settle for a point.

“Nobody wants to lose a derby and I think it was a decent game,” he added afterwards. “There was not an abundance of chances but I think the passion was there, but just not quite the quality for both teams to go and win it.

“The commitment both sets of fans demand from a derby means no-one loses a runner, nobody gives any space, nobody is going to lose the ball in a tight spot, so that set up the game and it was a credit to both teams that they didn’t concede.

STAR MAN: Curtis Tilt (Wrexham) ATT: 5,058 ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★ REFEREE: Martin Coy 7/10