FOR the fans, Sunday is the big one.

A chance to put one over their bitter rivals and the opportunity to send Chester even deeper into trouble at the foot of League Two.

But ever the pragmatist, Wrexham manager Denis Smith knows he cannot afford to see Sunday's High Noon clash at the Racecourse as the be-all and end-all.

'It might be for the fans, but we can't afford to look at Chester as our biggest game.

'Hopefully our biggest will be in the last couple of matches against the likes of Oxford clinching a promotion or play-off place.

'I know as far as local rivalry goes it is the biggest but, and I know it won't go down too well, but I'm more interested in achieving something than just beating Chester.'

Wrexham kept their hopes of promotion alive with a 1-0 success at Rochdale on Saturday which was the perfect tonic after the disappointment of giving up a two-goal lead at Macclesfield in midweek.

'We needed to win. We threw away the opportunity last Tuesday so to come back, keep a clean sheet and win comfortably was pleasing.

'I had a few words after the game on Tuesday and we had a meeting on Thursday to go through things.

'The players know what they want to do, so that's fine.

'They know what their ambitions are, and that's to get promotion this year.

'We've got plenty of time to do that. We need to go on a run and if we do, we

can still go up automatically never mind through the play-offs. There's still enough points to go after.'

Defensive midfielder Jim Whitley came off early on Saturday and missed Tuesday night's trip to Cheltenham, but could still be in contention for the Chester game.

Wrexham are unbeaten in their last five league and cup fixtures against Chester. The last time the Blues beat them was in the Freight Rover Trophy - a 3-1 success after extra time at the Racecourse on March 23, 1987. You have to back another year to find the last league defeat, a 2-1 reverse at Sealand Road on March 22, 1986.

The game is all-ticket and the ticket office will be open until 7pm tonight (Thursday), from 9.30am-4.30pm tomorrow and from 10am-1pm on Saturday. Tickets will not be on sale on the day.

Wrexham missed the chance to pull more points back on the sides above them when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Cheltenham on Tuesday night.

Matt Derbyshire struck twice, the first to give Wrexham the lead in the first minute. His second levelled matters with 25 minutes to go.

Wrexham are now five points away from the final play-off spot but have a game in hand on Peterborough who are currently occupying that position.

A blow from the game for Wrexham was the loss of defender Dennis Lawrence with injury. nSam Williams was named in the Coca-Cola League Two team of the week after his displays against Macclesfield and Rochdale. On-loan Williams scored at Moss Rose and set up the winner at Spotland.