Wrexham duo to be assessed for Blackburn test

Wrexham rose to 10th in the Championship courtesy of a 2-0 win over Bristol City at the Stok Cae Ras

Phil Parkinson will make late calls on forward pair Josh Windass and Sam Smith for Wrexham's Championship fixture with Blackburn Rovers at the Stok Cae Ras on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The duo came off the bench in Wednesday night's 2-0 triumph over Bristol City, although Windass has been struggling with illness since that victory.

Striker Smith replaced Kieffer Moore in the latter stages against the Robins, but sustained a knock to his calf and will be assessed before the contest with Rovers.

"You're always going to get a couple of knocks after the game on Wednesday," Parkinson told BBC Sport Wales.

"Josh Windass was ill after the game and into Thursday, so we haven't seen him until this morning, so we'll just monitor that.

"Sam Smith got a whack on the calf when he came on. But they're normal, routine things you'd expect and we'll make a late decision on the team."

Despite losing three of their eight league matches away this season, Blackburn boast the second best record on the road in the Championship, behind leaders Coventry City, this term.

They pose a real threat to a Wrexham side who are bidding to extend their four-game winning league run on home soil along with their seven-match unbeaten sequence in the Championship.

"We spoke to the lads about that this morning, that [Blackburn are] second in the away from home table, so this is a game of the same level as Coventry and Bristol City," Parkinson said.

"We've got to completely respect that record because it's there for all to see, and we'll look at the reasons why they've done well on their travels and can we combat that."

The visit of Blackburn will be Wrexham's third game in eight days, with Parkinson admitting squad rotation will continue to be key as he looks to keep his squad as fresh as possible.

"I think it's good to have competition, but it's good for players to understand that at times we'll change the team around to try and find that spark of freshness in the side," added the Wrexham boss.

"Every manager is doing that and it's about assessing the group in terms of players having knocks or looking a bit fatigued or looking better than we expected.

"It's not set in stone that you're going to make wholesale changes, it's assessing the group as you go into the next game."