While Andy Morrell is naturally at the forefront of our minds, there’s another player who gave terrific service in a Wrexham shirt on the verge of a genuine achievement in the early days of his managerial career. Mark McGregor was one of the best young discoveries of Brian Flynn’s long reign at The Racecourse, and he could pull off an impressive coup in the Welsh Premier League today.

McGregor was an excellent, flexible defender who played a key part in our 1997 run to the quarter -finals of the FA Cup and was consistency personified. Many will recall the occasional screamer he scored, but his smooth strength at the back was what took him to higher levels after he left us. He started off as right back but moved across to the centre of defence, where his qualities really shone through.

Today, his Connah’s Quay Nomads side have a huge match against Bala Town. They hold the crucial sixth place spot in the Welsh Premier League with one game left before the mid-season split: if they can hold onto it with a win, they’ll play the rest of the season jostling for a European play-off position; if not, they’ll be in the relegation half of the equation.

To get Nomads into that position is an impressive achievement for McGregor. This is their first season in the top level following promotion last Summer, and they’ve out-performed some sides which are established at that level and have certainly spent more on players than they could.

When we played them in a pre-season friendly before last season the game was completely over-shadowed by the Conference bond deadline we had to meet. However, I recall being impressed by the way they looked to pass the ball around: clearly good principles have been instilled in them, and hopefully they’ll get the reward for that today.

McGregor still plays at the heart of their defence, and naturally isn’t the mobile presence he once was. But his experience is obvious, and although he might not evoke too many memories of his pomp, his leadership qualities are impressive. He and Prestatyn’s Neil Gibson are an impressive pair of player-managers cutting his teeth in a competitive league. Nigel Adkins stands as an example of where learning your trade in the Welsh Premier League can get you, and there’s no doubting McGregor’s ability to get his squad to over-perform. That’s got to be down to good coaching. He’s one that’s worth keeping an eye on.