WREXHAM manager Denis Smith has expressed his delight that defender Dennis Lawrence's World Cup dream could yet come true.

Trinidad & Tobago overcame the odds to come from behind and beat Mexico 2-1 in their final group qualifier in the early hours of yesterday morning and have now booked a play-off against Gulf state Bahrain next month.

If the Soca Warriors progress, then Lawrence will become the first Wrexham player to go to the World Cup finals while playing for the club.

Smith said: "I'm delighted that they've made it through to the play-offs and I hope Dennis does it.

"He's a great lad and it would be a tremendous achievement - it couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. To beat Mexico is one hell of a result."

Lawrence's globetrotting exploits pose a considerable headache for Smith when it comes to preparations for weekend games which fall after international fixtures, but the manager is happy to oblige.

Smith said: "Dennis won't get back until Friday afternoon at the earliest and in the past he's been even later, sometimes having to miss the Saturday game.

"But we have to put up with it. It's something you have to decide whether you are willing to accept before you offer a player a contract, but Dennis is always first class with his attitude.

"When he is back, he hardly ever misses a training session, gives us a good standard of performance and likes to speak his mind which is something we like to encourage.

"Dennis is very strong-minded and has a great presence at the club, not just because of his physical stature."

Trinidad & Tobago are aiming to become only the second Caribbean nation to reach the finals after Jamaica's appearance in France 98.

Their path so far has been a gruelling one having twice been drawn in the same group as the mighty Mexicans.

The Soca Warriors kicked off their campaign in June last year by overcoming the Dominican Republic 6-0 on aggregate which earned them a place in the first group stage.

They took runners-up spot behind Mexico, finishing ahead of St Vincent & The Grenadines and St Kitts & Nevis to book their place in the final Concacaf pool.

The USA, Mexico and Costa Rica had all qualified automatically ahead of this week's last round of matches, leaving Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala to battle it out for the play-off spot.

Guatemala kept up the pressure with a 3-1 victory over Costa Rica ensuring that Lawrence and his team-mates would have to overcome Mexico to book their place in the play-offs.

Despite falling behind to Jaime Lozano's 37th minute strike, the hosts fought back to win with a brace from Stern John, who had earlier missed a penalty.

The Soca Warriors will now face Asia's surprise package Bahrain in a two-legged decider next month, with the winner securing a berth in Germany next summer.

The first leg takes place in Port of Spain on November 12 with the return match in Manama four days later.

Coached by Croatian Luka Peruzovic, 53, who played for Yugoslavia in the 1974 World Cup finals as well as taking charge of Anderlecht, Bah-rain, a small island state in the Persian Gulf with a population of just 663,000, have caused something of a stir.

Despite having no pedigree, Bahrain finished fourth in the 2004

Asian Cup and were named Fifa's Most-Improved Team of the Year and reached the playoffs by overcoming the former Soviet state of Uzbekistan on away goals.