BATTLING Wrexham aim to rediscover their fighting spirit at Port Vale tonight - but manager Denis Smith refuses to press the panic button.

The Red Dragons are still two points adrift of Second Division safety after their survival push hit the buffers with a 1-0 defeat by Chesterfield on Saturday.

But Smith refuses to label tonight's trip to Vale Park as a `must-win' game, insisting there are enough matches left for Wrexham to avoid the drop.

And he believes The Racecourse outfit side can steer clear of the relegation zone by picking up on a run of form which saw them suffer only one defeat in seven games before Saturday.

"There's no point us committing suicide because we've been beaten 1-0 by Chesterfield," said Smith.

"We've got to carry on the good run we had before Saturday and concentrate on picking enough points by April 20.

"And if we continue playing as well as we have done recently I believe we should be OK."

Only nine games remain for Wrexham to pull themselves out of the mire, but Smith rejects the notion that nothing less than three points will do against Vale.

He insisted, "It isn't a must-win occasion. I want to win the next nine games, I always want to win every match. I know it's not helpful for the media, but there's no point pigeonholing games as do-or-die situations.

"People said that on paper we should've beaten Chesterfield. But why? You've got to look at them and give them credit.

"They're not a small club - they get bigger gates than us - and they came to defend and caught us with a goal on the break.

"It was illogical to assume Chester-field was a certain home win, but you have to accept that when you're on a good run there's more expectation on you."

Vale have won seven of their last nine games, manager Brian Horton winning February's manager of the month award before slipping up with a 3-0 drubbing at Swindon on Saturday.

Said Smith, "They've gone from being relegation candidates, to promotion contenders to a mid-table side - the proverbial roller-coaster of a season.

"Brian has done well since he succeeded John Rudge as Vale manager.

"He'll be aiming to get things back on track against us and we've got to be equal to that."

David Walsh will replace Marius Rovde in the Wrexham goal after the Norwegian picked up a hamstring injury on Saturday.