Wrexham lose £4m summer signing as Phil Parkinson confirms devastating new injury blow amid nightmare start to Championship season

Liberato Cacece completed his move to Wrexham from Serie A side Empoli in the summer for a record-breaking transfer fee. The New Zealand international started in the club's season opener against Southampton last month but he sustained a hamstring injury in that game. Cacece then returned to action against Millwall, but is now facing another spell on the sidelines after injuring his other hamstring.

Speaking on the full-back's condition, Wrexham boss Parkinson said: "Libby's going to be out a few weeks, unfortunately. It is a real blow for us. I played it down last week because he did so well at Millwall. I brought him off to protect him and he's got a tendon problem in his other hamstring. He's not a player who's had injuries before in his career, his record's good, but sometimes when you're coming back from one injury, you overcompensate a little bit and he's picked up another one. 

"He's a player our home fans haven't seen yet, his two appearances have been away, but we have just got to get him back as soon as we can. Libby's a player our supporters are going to enjoy watching when we get him out there."

Cacece will join the likes of Danny Ward, Jay Rodriguez and Andy Cannon on the sidelines, who are already out on a long-term basis. However, there is some good news for the Welsh club as Josh Windass and George Thomason have fully recovered from their respective injuries and are ready to make a comeback. Meanwhile, Ollie Rathbone, who suffered a serious injury during pre-season, has also returned to training and is likely to feature in the next game.

Parkinson added: "They trained a bit last week but (last Saturday's game against QPR) was just too soon for them. I've always got to think long-term as well because if I expose players too soon and they get injured, then it affects us going forward. But Josh and George have trained really well this week, and they're available for selection at the weekend."

Wrexham, who are co-owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, will aim to get back to winning ways when they travel to Norfolk to take on Norwich on Saturday.