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A better performance at the Racecourse following the dire Boxing Day defeat at home to Rochdale but disappointingly we still took nothing from the game. We created few chances to score and another defensive lapse cost us the game, but we generally looked more coherent and the effort from the players was there.

Shaun Pejic returned to the side in place of Richard Hope and there was a long overdue start for Mike Williams at the back. Wes Baynes returned to the side on the right as Ryan Valentine was moved to central midfield.

This was a bold move by Brian Little but it paid off as Valentine offered a protection to the defence that has been missing for some time. Mark Jones only made the bench and Silvio Spann was absent altogether.

The pouring rain, a cut up pitch and swirling wind was accompanied by strong vocal encouragement from the home fans as the backdrop to a stalemate first-half. We didn’t concede an early goal and didn’t look likely to as we kept the threat of Proudlock and Dickinson relatively quiet.

Llewellyn had our best attempt, a long range shot over the bar and despite Stockport shading it they looked very shaky at the back, often passing it around in front of their own area with some unease. If we’d had a quick and nippy striker up front they could have been punished for it.

Our best chance of the game came right at the beginning of the second half. Baynes made a great run with the ball and put in a superb cross which met the head of Neil Roberts. The header was a good one but was met by an outstanding save from Conrad Logan in the County goal.

Ten minutes into the second-half County grabbed their goal. A cross was headed away by Shaun Pejic but only as far as County’s half-time sub Anthony Elding and he was given the opportunity to fire past Anthony Williams to put the away side 1-0 up.

This time Brian Little had some positive options on the bench that he could use to try and change the game. Mike Carvill was brought on for the ineffective and seemingly disinterested Proctor. Carvill added the threat of pace and looked to make positive runs off the ball. Marc Williams was introduced shortly after for Neil Roberts.

With around 20 minutes to go we were given a great opportunity to get back into the game. A County player handled in the area and a penalty was awarded. Ryan Valentine stepped up to take it but his weak effort was saved by Logan. After that both sides had a few more half chances and Wrexham never gave up but it wasn’t to be.

County looked very average and a bit more quality from Wrexham in certain areas would have been enough to not only grab a point from the game but to win it too. It’s a little frustrating that this was an opportunity lost.

The changes Little made for this game however were reassuring such as bringing Pejic and Mike Williams back into the side as well as giving Carvill a run-out. Moving Valentine to central midfield to protect the defence in particular was clever.

Even if only for the short-term, it seemed to get more out of Valentine than when he plays at full-back. He got around the park, put tackles in and broke-up moves, which was exactly what we needed and what others given that role have previously failed to do. The missed penalty was a blot on his good performance but he has scored more important penalties for us in the past.

The overall disappointment at still being bottom and not taking at least a point from the game should be tempered by signs of improvement. Perhaps we might even be able to sneak something from Chesterfield on New Year’s Day…

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Wrexham are now bottom of the entire Football League again, and what is worse is that it is fully deserved on yet another shameful performance. The club were lucky to attract over 4,000 to the game yesterday partly because it was Boxing Day. Those that thought a trip to the football would be another Christmas treat were sadly mistaken.

Less than a month ago Wrexham went away to Spotland and gained a well deserved point following a hard-working performance. Many fans thought we’d turned a corner. How wrong we were. For this game Silvio Spann came back into the side in place of Matt Crowell. Ryan Valentine moved to the right to replace Baynes as Neil Taylor came back in to the side on the left.

The game followed a similar pattern to our other recent defeats. The opposition, though not necessarily a good team, impose themselves on the game as the better side in possession and seem physically stronger, before taking the lead in the first half following poor defending. Wrexham mount a bit of a fight-back early in the second half without ever really looking too likely to score before the opposition then grab a second and nail it. It’s a depressing cycle.

It took just 7 minutes for Dale to take the lead, Neil Taylor unable to fully cut out a cross which fell for Glenn Murray to poke home from close-range. We had a couple of chances to get back into the game from set-pieces, before Llewellyn had an opportunity. His attempt was blocked but Neil Roberts stretched for the rebound but only made enough contact to put the ball wide with the goalkeeper stranded.

We perhaps could have had a penalty for a foul on Steve Evans in the area. The tall defender would have had a good chance to equalise had he not been impeded. Despite these half-chances Rochdale were still the better side and comfortably so.

At half-time Spann was replaced by Gareth Evans who slotted into defence. Steve Evans was sent up front. To make this move at half-time seemed an act of desperation from Brian Little, though it has to be said Stevie’s height does cause problems and the change initially brought a slight improvement going forward.

It was when Rochdale introduced a ‘proper’ striker that killed the game off. Sickeningly it was Lee McEvilly the chunky idle striker we’d had to pay off for him to leave our club in the summer. This was the third time he’d played against us this season and despite his boasts he’d failed to score against us in the previous two games. This was the first time he’d returned to the Racecourse though since he’d left.

The highly abusive reception he received from the Wrexham fans seemed to motivate him to hurt us more as just minutes after entering the field poor defending gave him his goal. We failed to cut out two crosses across our area and it was the second one that met McEvilly at the far post to lash home. It was a good finish and he’d got his revenge. You just wish Evil had been that motivated to play every game like that for us.

The game petered out comfortably for Rochdale. I can’t remember us having a shot on target all game. It was a dreary feeble performance.

The January transfer window can’t come soon enough. Brian Little having initially coaxed some decent performances out of these players has worryingly run out of ideas. Spann looked our most creative player, certainly the most comfortable on the ball and able to pick out good passes (with one notable exception) yet he was replaced by a centre-half at half-time as we threw another defender forward.

We had only Josh Johnson on the bench as our only natural attacking option amongst three other defenders and a goalkeeper, but he wasn’t used. It’s perplexing.

It’s a real fear that attendances will continue to drop with results and performances not improving.

At the moment we look doomed. The players seem either to be unmotivated or devoid of any confidence (and in the case of a few, football ability).

Little can’t seem to inspire this group of players, so everything now seems to hinge on what he can do in the January transfer window. Let’s hope he knows what to do, and is allowed to do it by our sometimes seemingly thrifty owners…

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