Brian Little: We all have to fight for the future

By Mark Currie, Daily Post

08 April 2008

WREXHAM manager Brian Little says his future – and that of his players – is on the line over the course of the next month.

The Dragons, who visit promotion-chasing MK Dons this evening, may now have little chance of avoiding relegation, but the Racecourse boss believes the club’s final six games of a dismal season will provide a valuable pointer for the future.

“Regardless of what happens tomorrow and in the other games we have to play, our current position does not mean that football finishes at the end of the season,” he said yesterday.

“Most people will look at the game – top of the league against botttom – and put it down for a home win, but we beat them in January and it’s often the case that top teams are less comfortable when playing those at the bottom.

“And there is still plenty to play for as far as everyone here is concerned because the football will continue beyond the end of the season.

“It’s at times like this that you learn a lot about players and there will be people watching our lads to see what they are made of.

“We have players here who are out of contract soon and my future is also up in the air, so we have all got something personal to play for as well as playing for Wrexham and trying to keep the club in the Football League.”

Having taken just two points from the last five games, the Dragons are still seven points adrift of the safety zone, but Little is adamant his team have improved and he wants them to prove it this evening.

“We need to do well in games such as this to show people we can fight, that we have spirit and that we have not given up,” he added. “What we don’t want to do is to repeat our silly mistakes.

“I genuinely believe that since January 1 we have been competitive in every match we have played.

“There have been some we’ve lost when we should have drawn and there have been some we have drawn and should have won, but I cannot think of one game since the turn of the year in which we have been outclassed.

“And we need to take that attitude into tomorrow’s game because, despite what everyone is saying, we are not out of it yet so we have to demonstrate that we are still committed to what we are trying to achieve.

“We might accept that MK Dons are a better team than us because results and the league table prove that to be the case, but we cannot go there to lie down and let them walk all over us.

“We beat them in January because we made it hard at the Racecourse for them to play against us, and now we have to do it again. And it goes without saying that it’s more important for us to do it tomorrow, given the situation in which we find ourselves.”

Wrexham will be without defender Simon Spender, who was stretchered out of Saturday’s game against Macclesfield with ankle ligament damage, and striker Drewe Broughton, who will not be turning out against his parent club at stadium:mk.

Gareth Evans and Mike Williams have been added to the squad and there is an outside chance that experienced midfielder Jeff Whitley will also travel.

The former Northern Ireland international, who damaged a shoulder last week, was passed fit to rejoin training yesterday and Little said: “We’ll see how he feels in the morning.

“We need to have people who are absolutely 100% fit and if he’s feeling a bit sore I would not want to take the chance of knocking him back for an even longer period.”