TEENAGER Marc Williams is keeping his fingers crossed he does not become the latest player to fall foul of the injury jinx that has sidelined so many Wrexham strikers this season.

The 18-year-old homegrown talent made the fourth start of his fledgling career against League Two leaders Walsall last Saturday.

His chance came after Sunderland loan signing Kevin Smith joined a treatment room queue that already included Neil Roberts and Juan Ugarte and, until very recently, Lee McEvilly as well.

And there is every chance Williams will keep his place in the side against visitors Darlington this weekend after a performance that earned him a man-of-the-match bottle of champagne.

“Touch wood, I’m okay for injuries,” he said this week. “I broke my ankle when I was 16, but since then I’ve been pretty lucky and steered clear of anything major.

“Now that I’m in the first-team squad, I’m hopeful I won’t go the same way as some of the other strikers, who have been hit by some really bad luck.

“It was good to be involved at last on Saturday, although I thought we deserved all three points on the second-half performance, but on a personal note, I was happy with my contribution.”

With brother Mike, 18 months his senior, now holding down a regular first-team slot, Marc said there was no sibling rivalry and instead used the defender’s progress as a personal benchmark.

“When Mike is doing well I’m pleased for him and the feeling is vice-versa,” he added. “Mike has had a run of 10 or 11 games now this season, which is great for him.

“I compare my progress with his, taking into account the age difference between us, and I’m pretty much at the same stage now that he was at last season.

“I’m still only young and just pleased to be involved at the moment. But the longer the injury situation at the club remains like it is, the more opportunities there are to make an impression, and I want to show I can do it at this level.

“I played a couple of games last year and one this season before last Saturday and I’ve been on the bench a few times, so it was always the case I just had to keep working hard and wait for my chance.”

The youngster believes he has more to offer once he is playing regular football.

An established member of Brian Flynn’s Wales under-19 squad, he was frequently on international duty during the early part of the season, while more recently he has seen several reserve-team matches postponed.

“It’s only in the last few weeks that I’ve been back here at Wrexham on a regular week-in week-out basis, but we haven’t had many games and training is not the same as playing matches,” he said.

“We had one friendly match last week against Macclesfield but I went into the Walsall game quite short of match practice and I knew it was going to be a big step up.

“I did worry about whether I would last the pace, but I got through it and I hope what I showed will keep me in contention for this weekend.”

He added: “That’s what I want, but as I said I’m young and I’m sure that there will be other opportunities for me at some stage of the season.”