- James McClean, a winger for Wrexham, called Jean Belehouan a “wally” for honouring Tranmere’s pivotal victory on Saturday.
Local rivals Tranmere won 1-0 at the Racecourse Ground, dealing a setback to the Red Dragons’ hopes of earning immediate promotion from League Two. The win was vital since Tranmere is still expecting to make a late push into the play-off spots; hence, the players celebrated wildly.
Players from Wrexham became enraged at the post-match revelry as Tranmere celebrated on their ground. At halftime, the two sides engaged in an on-field altercation, during which Rovers defender Belehouan, who was an unutilized substitute and did not appear off the bench, enthralled the visiting supporters.
As soon as the situation settled down, McClean—who was suspended for accruing too many yellow cards—took to social media to criticise Belehouan. The Irishman posted the following on Instagram: “Absolute wally, not sure what’s more embarrassing, the fact that he was an unused sub for them or him giving it large during the game.
Wrexham has lost their previous two games and is still in the automatic promotion spots, so McClean’s frustration was evident. Although he downplayed the intensity of the on-field argument, Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson is certain that no more action will be taken.
I had disappeared into the tunnel,” Parkinson murmured. “I was genuinely ignorant of it until someone brought it up to me. I was not sure at the moment if the referee had also gone down the tunnel. Although you don’t want it to happen, feelings were running hot.
With twenty-five shots on goal, Wrexham was unable to score, but Parkinson isn’t going to focus on the disappointing display in front of a critical stretch of matches. “We need to think about this,” he continued. There’s a tonne of value in playing.
Even though it was a local derby, we know how important this loss is to our players, staff and supporters, so it’s not a defining defeat.” It’s not, however, a season-ending loss. We have to pick ourselves up and prepare to play again at Grimsby the next week because we are in a strong position.
Wrexham is five points behind League Two leaders Mansfield and tied for second place with Stockport. But with eight games left, they are only ahead of MK Dons by a goal differential, while Barrow is trailing them by just six points. On March 23, Wrexham’s next league game is away to Blundell Park against Grimsby Town.
