Keates: Wrexham Not At Their Best But Victory ‘Big’

The Red Dragons’ 1-0 win over bitter rivals Chester wasn’t pretty according to the Racecourse boss.

But it was certainly enough for what they wanted - a first victory away from home in the cross border clash for nine years.

Keates spoke to BT Sport after the full time whistle and praised the determination of his players to hand on the lead given to them by Shaun Pearson’s headed just before half-time.

“We didn’t play anywhere near our best tonight but we have come to Chester and won the game,” said the Wrexham manager.

“We didn’t offer enough in the second half, we let them come at us a bit too much but in a derby game you know the opposition will take the game to you.

“We were resilient - we worked hard and took a very important three points. We have played better than that at lost this season so we’ll certainly take the three points. It’s a big win.

“It’s a big one for the fans too of course, they were fantastic tonight.”

Keates praised his skipper Pearson who lead by example in Cheshire.

“Shaun is a captain a manager can only dream of,” Keates said to BT. “He leads by example and got an important goal for us.

“We knew set pieces might be important and Kelly’s free kick was put into the right place and he has managed to get a great header on the ball and put it in the back of the net.”