Windass to miss Cardiff test as others to be assessed

[Getty Images] Josh Windass will miss Wrexham's Championship opener at Cardiff City on Monday (20:00 BST) due to injury. The forward was his side's top scorer last season with 17 goals across all competitions. But he has not featured at all during pre-season and was also absent for the 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Friday. Phil Parkinson confirmed that midfielder Ben Sheaf and left wing-back Liberato Cacace are progressing well and will be assessed before the contest with the Bluebirds. "Josh, no, he's still a bit behind Sheafo. Sheafo's had a block of training in pre-season so he hasn't missed the whole of pre-season like Josh but he's getting there," said the Wrexham manager. "Libby's only missed four or five days really, maybe a touch longer than that so it was more of a fatigue-related injury. Hopefully it's nothing more than that and he'll be back in contention." Elsewhere, Max Cleworth stepped up his return to full fitness against Wigan Athletic in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Monday. The centre-back has been carrying an Achilles problem but was joined by the likes of Aaron James, Dan Scarr, Ryan Longman, Ryan Barnett, George Dobson and new signing Ben Whiteman in gaining valuable game time in the 1-0 victory against the Latics. Davis Keillor-Dunn - who operated in a front three with Bailey Cadamarteri and Harry Ashfield - netted the only goal of the contest. "It was a really good workout," Parkinson said of the match. "Often in those games it's getting the tempo and the intensity where you need it to make sure those lads are prepared and we were pleased with the physical data as well as the performance."