By wrecsam am byth
January 14 2004

Currently injured Wrexham striker Lee Jones has spoken out and urged his team mates to keep going in the quest for the first division. Jones, 31, is currently out with a torn hamstring, but he’s still kicking and heading every ball played.

Wrexham-born Jones said: “I’m not that far off now, perhaps a couple of weeks and I’ll be ready to get back playing. It’s driving me nuts being out. It’s disappointing but I’ve just got to get on with it and get myself back.

“I didn’t go to Chesterfield where, by all accounts, we were not very good. But we’re still up there, within touch of the play-offs and we’ve got to keep that very much in mind.

“A couple of wins can lift us right among the main pack. A couple of defeats and we’ll slip. That’s how tight it is in this division at the moment.

“My latest injury is particularly disappointing from my point of view. It happened just five minutes before the end of a training session. I felt my hamstring go in my right leg and, to be honest, I felt as if I’d been shot. I went for a scan and it showed there was a tear in it. But it’s coming on and I’m not that far away now from coming back.”

Red Dragons Chairman Mark Guterman and manager Denis Smith see Lee Jones as a real asset to Wrexham. Guterman bankrolled the deal that brought him back to The Racecourse for a record fourth time and Smith believes Jones is a genuine striker who can score goals to lead Wrexham to success.

Smith told the Evening Leader - “Lee’s a good finisher. He proved that during last season when we won automatic promotion and some of the goals he gets in training are pure class. But, of course, he’s no to us, or a danger to anyone, when he’s not playing. I want him available for matches and the lad feels exactly the same. He wants to play.

“I’ve said all along I believe we have a real chance of getting into the play-offs. I still believe that and from here on in the players have got to believe it, too. No one in this division has really turned us over and, on our day, we are as good as anything in the division.”

Denis Smith realises Wrexham can also be as bad as anything in the second division. He was furious and dissapointed about the performance in the 2-1 defeat at Chesterfield and on Monday had all his senior players in to talk about how they had played.

“What happened at Chesterfield has now gone,” he said. “I’ve made my points about that, but now we have to look forward. The next game is the most important and I want three points against Notts County here on Saturday. “It’s surprising what a win can do and it’s important we get it because we then have a run of away games.”

With another struggling side facing Wrexham on Saturday will there be another upset on the cards? Or will Wrexham bounce back to the pleasure of Denis Smith and the Wrexam faithful? Notts County won't be easy to crack down and will fancy there chances after Chesterfields win last weekend.