‘Frustrating’ – Wrexham dealt major blow with three new signings injured already

Wrexham have been dealt another blow with the news that Josh Windass has been ruled out for up to six weeks.

The forward, who signed for the club in July, limped off during the first half of Saturday’s Championship clash against West Brom with what appeared to be a hamstring issue.

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Windass made a solid start to his Wrexham career after netting the club’s first goal of the season in the 2-1 opening day defeat at Southampton.

And following his premature exit in last weekend’s 3-2 defeat, boss Phil Parkinson’s worst fears have been realised ahead of a busy run of fixtures.

Parkinson confirmed on Tuesday that Windass will be unavailable for four to six weeks meaning he will miss Saturday’s meeting with former club Sheffield Wednesday at the SToK Racecourse.

“Josh is going to be out for four to six weeks with his hamstring,” Parkinson revealed.

“Obviously it’s a blow because he’s been great for us.

“Even in the first half hour against West Brom he was really good and obviously down at Southampton.

“It is really frustrating for him and for us but it’s part and parcel of football and we’ve got to deal with it.

“With the international break coming up, by the time that’s finished he won’t be far off.”

In addition to this weekend’s crunch clash, Windass will miss next week’s Carabao Cup trip to Preston and the Championship meeting with Millwall at The Den.

The 31-year-old will be eyeing a return to action when Wrexham host QPR after the international break or the trip to Norwich a week later.

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What is the latest on Wrexham’s injured stars?

Elsewhere, Parkinson provided injury updates on a host of other players but admits his squad will be able to cope with the list of absentees.

Ollie Rathbone, Liberato Cacace, Jay Rodriguez, George Thomason and Andy Cannon are all sidelined ahead of the upcoming run of games.

Like Windass, Thomason and Cacace had only signed for Wrexham earlier in the summer.

“George is making progress and Libby’s making good progress,” he added. “Obviously Jay and Andy are longer term.

“We’ve had a bit of disruption but it’s the same at other clubs.

“It’s just making sure we don’t get too down about that and deal with it because we’ve got good players ready to step in.

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“The depth of the squad is key.”

Wrexham are closing in on the £8million signing of Manchester City defender Callum Doyle.

The centre-back has plenty of experience of the Championship having clocked up over 100 appearances during loan spells with Sunderland, Coventry, Leicester and Norwich.

Doyle will link up with ex-Leicester teammate Conor Coady following his summer switch to Wales.

Coady has settled in quickly at his new club and praised the fans for the atmosphere they created in Saturday’s clash against West Brom.

He also described the move as ‘exciting’ and says he’d love another crack at playing Premier League football.

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“The home game at the weekend against West Brom was unbelievable, the atmosphere, the feeling of actually being in the Championship again for the football club was amazing, and for me to be a part of that it’s really humbling,” Coady told BBC 5 Live’s The Monday Night Club.

“There’s so many clubs now going through a tough time and I’m part of one that wants to get better, it’s so exciting it really is.

“It feels fresh, there’s an excitement… people want to know what’s going on at the club.

“There’s a long way to go and people need to be doing things and building blocks, building one step at a time… because the hardest thing now is getting to the stars – you want to get to the Premier League because in the long run that’s where the club wants to be.

He added: “I’d love to play in the Premier League again, I want another crack at getting in there, another promotion, of course I want that in the long run.

“But do we need to make things better? Of course we do and I’m going to go in and try and make things better, make myself better, but what’s most important is to make that club better.

“I love that I’m now part of that conversation, I love that people ask me about it at the football club, I love everything that that brings… I’m really enjoying it.”