'Never a good thing'- Wrexham star delivers shock message to Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac's side amid lack of game time

Over the past year, McClean has been training intensively in boxing. He has been posting workout clips to his Instagram that show sharp jabs and fierce combinations.

Speaking in an interview with Westlife star Nicky Byrne, released on Thursday, he said: "I'll be honest, I've really enjoyed it [at Wrexham] up until the last two or three months. It's not been ideal, I've not been playing as much as I'd like, which is never a good thing. You want to be playing and you want to be in the mix. I've never dealt really well with not playing."

The Republic of Ireland international, who joined Wrexham from Wigan Athletic in August 2023, has helped guide the club to back-to-back promotions. But the step up to the Championship has brought new realities. And it seems to have bruised his pride.

"Nowadays, I just channel that frustration and annoyance and do my training. Before, I'd throw my toys out of the pram," he said. "Now, I just channel that frustration into the punch bag and it seems to blow off a bit of steam. You kind of feel better for it afterwards."

McClean isn’t just shadowboxing, but he has already dipped his toes into the professional world. On September 5, the Wrexham winger walked out with Michael Conlan for his high-profile bout against Jack Bateson at Dublin’s 3Arena. Now, he confirmed that talks have already taken place about entering the Misfits Boxing circuit. It is an influencer-led crossover promotion that’s given everyone from YouTubers to ex-footballers a shot at the spotlight.

"I do want to box," he admitted. "Misfits (boxing company) is opening up opportunities for a lot of people who aren't professional boxers to give them the opportunity to step in and experience what it's like to be a boxer. Absolutely, it's something I want to do and there has been background chats about it, but I'm contracted at the moment. It's definitely something I want to do in the near future.

"A lot of my training now is boxing training. I have a bigger passion now for boxing than I do for football. I would rather watch boxing than watch football. It's something I want to do and it's something I want to experience to tick off my bucket list. I've done the ring walk for Mike Conlan in Dublin. Being on the stage that night and doing the ring walk was unbelievable. I was thinking, imagine doing that, where this is for you and you're going into the ring for a tear up. I get goosebumps."

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