Ben Foster has warned his Wrexham teammates that they must bounce back and show "anger" when they host Notts County in what has been described as the 'biggest game' in National League history.
The Red Dragons dropped down to second in the table after they were beaten 3-1 by a resurgent Halifax side on Good Friday. However, Phil Parkinson's side don't have time to dwell on their first defeat in 27 league matches as they welcome Notts to the Racecourse Ground in a blockbuster affair on Easter Monday.
Notts secured a 3-0 win over Wealdstone on Friday to move them level on 100 points at the top of the National League - and increase the pressure on big-spending Wrexham in the title race. The Magpies currently sit in first due to their superior goal difference but Wrexham do have a game in hand, meaning Monday's game is set to be a cracker.
Ahead of the game against Notts County, Foster, who came out of retirement to join the Red Dragons last month, issued a rallying cry to his Wrexham teammates as they try and bounce back from a damaging defeat against Halifax.
He told Mirror Football: "It's a good chance to try and bury some of these demons straight away and it's obviously a massive game for us. We know what is at stake when we play Notts County on Monday, and hopefully we can take a bit of anger from the [Halifax] game and turn it into a real high-tempo, proper performance for our fans to enjoy."
"It's very good for the neutral (the title race), not so good for a Wrexham fan," Foster continued. "Friday would have been a great chance to maintain that lead and to maintain our unbeaten run. But that is football and fair play to Halifax, they were good."
Foster was linked with a move to Newcastle and Tottenham earlier in the season, before deciding to return to professional football with Wrexham. Following an injury to Rob Lainton, owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney offered the former Manchester United stopper a deal until the end of the season - which he accepted.
At the time, Wrexham had eight matches to go in their push for promotion back to the Football League for the first time since 2008. Foster kept a clean sheet on his debut in a 3-0 victory over York and also performed well in his second game - a 5-1 thumping of Oldham on April 1.
Although the defeat at Halifax was a major setback for Foster and Wrexham, he is still enjoying his time in North Wales. He added: "Really enjoying it, I have been welcomed into the team so easily. It just feels like home already. I knew the club before and I knew how much of a nice, family-orientated club it was beforehand but it's nice to just settle in so easy."
There is expected to be a full-house at the Racecourse Ground for the huge game against Notts and Foster could not praise the Wrexham fans more for their support this season. Around 4,500 travelled to Halifax for the Good Friday clash, too, the most they have taken to an away game all campaign.
Foster finished: "Our fans have been like that all season. My first two home matches we had 10,000 fans there, it’s non-league and you would get that in no other league in the world."
