Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has criticised his players for a lack of discipline after they picked up another red card, while James McClean is also closing in on a suspension.
The League Two side took on fellow Welsh club Newport Country on Saturday and suffered a 1-0 defeat courtesy of a 34-minute strike by Seb Palmer-Holden. But before 20 minutes had been played, Wrexham were down to 10 men following a reckless challenge by Will Boyle on Shane McLoughlin.
The centre-back tried to clear the ball but caught the Irishman with a high challenge with his studs showing and was dismissed by the referee. Parkinson was furious and complained to the official and protesting that Boyle "took the ball".
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"I think Boyle slid in, his momentum has taken him and he's caught the lad. I don't think it was intentional, the ref doesn't see it because you can clearly see there are players between him and the decision,” the manager said.
“So the linesman is the one who made the deciding factor. If you freeze-frame it and saw where the contact was you'd say it was a red, but I don't think Boyle's intentionally done it, I think his momentum has just carried him through the ball."
His team missed the chance to go to the top of League Two after suffering just their fifth loss of the season and the 56-year-old warned his players to show more discipline after Wrexham received a fifth red card of the season. "We gave ourselves a mountain to climb with the sending off. It's a tough place to come anyway but we go down to 10 men and then second half they had the conditions in their favour as well,” Parkinson told club media.
“We never really produced the quality with 10 men to get back in the game. The last thing we needed coming to a place like this is one, to go down to 10 men and 2, concede a goal. If we'd made it to half-time nil-nil, you'd have fancied us because the crowd were starting to get edgy to their own team and the goal was, like any goal, a key moment."
James McClean has received eight yellow cards this season and is two away from receiving a two-match ban (Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)He added: "A lot went against us and we weren't able to overcome it today. A lot of times we've been down to 10 men, we've found a way to win, but you can't keep doing that. It is difficult. We have to make sure between now and the end of the season we keep our discipline and give ourselves every chance in every single game."
With Boyle now set to for a three-match ban, former Sunderland and Republic of Ireland international James McClean is close to a suspension of his own. He received his eighth yellow card on Saturday in the 37th minute of the match, as his flailing arm connected with an opponent just three minutes after they went behind.
Should he receive two more bookings, the Northern Irishman will be handed a two-match ban. Wrexham’s next match will take place against Blackburn Rovers in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Monday, January 29.
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