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Wrexham hero Elliot Lee has been criticised for potentially damaging his reputation at the club after seemingly taking a veiled swipe at manager Phil Parkinson following his loan departure. The midfielder left the Red Dragons on transfer deadline day to join League One outfit Doncaster Rovers for the remainder of the campaign.

Lee has been one of the key players in Wrexham's incredible journey from non-league to the Championship, netting 41 goals in just over 150 outings. The 31-year-old also developed a strong bond with the club's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Macduring that time.

However, Lee hasn't appeared once in the league this term, partly because of knee surgery and new signings arriving, with Parkinson informing him last month he was welcome to seek a loan move in pursuit of regular action. After confirming his switch to Rovers, Lee confessed he felt "a lot of frustration" about departing and revealed he was eager to play under a manager who "values me again".

The nature of those remarks has subsequently attracted criticism, with ex-Wales striker Iwan Roberts suggesting it threatens to tarnish his legacy at the Racecourse Ground.

Speaking on the BBC's Feast of Football podcast, he said: "It looks a little bit petty. I don't know how he's been treated there, but I think there's better players in front of him. I was looking at his career and he was 31 in December. He's only played 29 games at this level and he's scored two goals.

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"He plays a similar position to Nathan Broadhead, Lewis O'Brien and Josh Windass. Is he going to get in before them? No. He was their joint top scorer last season in League One with eight goals and he's had a great three years at the football club.

"Don't tarnish it, because you've only gone to Doncaster on loan. There might be a time you'll have to come back to Wrexham, get your head down and go in that dressing room again. If you think that then fine, but I don't think he should be coming out publicly."

He added: "It's hard when he's been one of the main men for three years, been successful, scored goals, been a fan's favourite and all of a sudden you hit rock bottom. But I just think it's a little bit silly, because he's only gone to Doncaster on loan."

Lee failed to make a single Championship appearance before his exit, though he did feature three times in the Carabao Cup before suffering an injury blow. Following knee surgery in November, Wrexham announced he would be sidelined for approximately 12 weeks - a setback that further damaged his prospects of breaking back into Parkinson's plans.

Former Wales striker Sam Vokes reckons the situation stems from Wrexham's meteoric rise. He said he understood Parkinson's reasons for making tough squad choices and hailed the manager for ensuring Wrexham remain competitive near the top end of the Championship standings.

He said: "It was always going to be hard for Parky with the rise of the football club and how quick it's been. I think those players that got them to the Championship level have almost become icons of the football club, because they've been part of those promotions.

"When you're part of a promotion, you're all in it together, you're fighting and you achieve that together, you then want to go and play together at that next level. But the demands of the next level mean they've got to bring new people in, regenerate the squad and they've gone from strength to strength.

"It's always going to be hard to keep playing up a level, so I think it's caught a few of them up and it felt like the right time for them to move on."