The Wrexham boss has utilised his squad in the competition this season but a number of players are carrying knocks and midfield duo Ben Sheaf and Ollie Rathbone are “touch and go” after missing Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough.
Parkinson still has options allowing him to shuffle the pack, although he is stretched in defence with Callum Boyle suspended and Lewis Brunt facing an extended spell on the sidelines after picking up a thigh injury at the weekend.
“It’s not good with Brunty,” he said. “He had a scan and he’s going to see a specialist.
“We are hoping that he won’t need an operation but it is a long-term injury; the actual time-scale on that we won’t know until he’s seen the specialist.
“We have got problems in a few areas of the team, we’re a little bit stretched at the moment, but we’ll deal with those and also protect a few of the lads who have been carrying knocks in these last two league games, and assess those closer to kick-off.
“In any situation like this, you have got to balance the team selection out.
“Not putting players at risk who have played a lot of minutes and after a Wednesday-Saturday game, we have probably got to get some freshness on the pitch.
“We have got a big game on Friday but equally, we have got to pick the team we feel can get through to the quarter-finals.
“That’s what we’ve done successfully so far in this competition.”
