Wrexham

Luca Muzzupappa
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Rex Features

Elliot Lee says he only “cares about winning” as League One leaders Wrexham prepare for three games in seven days.

Wrexham face Leyton Orient away on Saturday and travel to 15th-place Stevenage on Tuesday, before looking to extend their perfect home start against Northampton Town the following Saturday.

Lee, 29, joined from Luton Town in 2022 and has been part of back-to-back promotions with Wrexham.

“I probably didn’t realise how much I’d love it here,” said the attacking midfielder.

“Every season I’ve been here just gets better, I love playing here, I love playing in front of the fans and love playing for the club.”

Lee, who has already contributed to four goals this season, added: “I want to put the shirt on every week and give my all, and if that leads to goals, assists, wins, that’s all I care about. Well not even the goals and assists, I just care about the winning.”

On the busy upcoming week, he said: “We’ve got the squad and the players to deal with a heavy fixture schedule.

“We’re quite an experienced group to be fair. We’ve got a lot of lads that have played higher, we’ve got a couple of boys who’ve played Premier League in Fletch [Steven Fletcher] and Jimmy [James McClean]."

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Wrexham might be wise to avoid regarding Saturday's opponents Leyton Orient as fitting the phrase "only as good as their last game".

Orient drew 2-2 against Peterborough United on Tuesday night, but that was after their 4-1 win at Stockport County last weekend - the team that beat Phil Parkinson's side to the League Two title last season.

While Wrexham celebrated their back-to-back promotions, Stockport finished four points clear at the top of the 2023-24 table.

Such is the disparity in League One budgets, Orient's manager Richie Wellens described it as "bonkers" when they were winless four games into this new campaign while Wrexham were already top.

Wellens believes the race for promotion is wide open in League One this season, and the improving hosts will look to rub that point home against leaders Wrexham on Saturday.

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Seven games, five wins, a draw and only one defeat - not a bad start to life in the League One for Wrexham.

And with Saturday's trip to lowly Leyton Orient up next before a game at mid-table Stevenage next Tuesday, boss Phil Parkinson must be feeling fairly content with his side's lot so far in 2024-25.

Only promotion favourites Birmingham City have so far proved too strong for Wrexham, whose 3-1 defeat at St Andrew's was followed by a 2-1 home win over Crawley Town.

That ensures Wrexham go into the weekend top of the table, albeit on goal difference and with Birmingham having a game in hand.

So can Parkinson's side stay out in front?

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Lili Jones has admitted Wrexham were simply not good enough as they suffered a shock 3-0 defeat at Adran Premier newcomers Briton Ferry Llansawel.

But the midfielder says Steve Dale’s side have the perfect chance to make amends next week when they play their first game of the season at the club’s Stok Racecourse home when they take on Swansea City.

The Red Dragons – yet to pick up a point this season after losing to champions Cardiff City at Cefn Druids’ The Rock, their usual home, last weekend – will have to be better than they managed at Old Road, however.

Avenging their promotion play-off defeat of a year ago, goals from Lowri Ridings, Alice Broadley and Tija Richardson won it for the Ferry in difficult conditions, but Jones admitted it was no excuse.

“We weren’t good enough,” she told Wrexham’s club site. “They were all over us like a rash. We weren’t good enough and we have to pick ourselves up and get points on the board, hopefully next weekend at the Cae Ras.

“We can blame the conditions, but I think they just wanted it more than us. They were first to first balls, first to second balls, first to third balls, we just couldn’t get hold of the ball so credit where credit’s due. They’re a physical side and kept us quiet all day and didn’t create much which is poor from us, but we’ll go again next week.”

Swansea also surprisingly dropped points after being held by Barry Town, and Jones added: “We have to put things right at the Cae Ras and what a place to do it.”

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Phil Parkinson says early season points dropped by their rivals highlights how impressive Wrexham’s home form continues to be.

Parkinson’s side bounced back from defeat at Birmingham – their first loss of the League One campaign – to earn a late victory over Crawley at the Racecourse.

It makes it four wins from four at home since their return to the third tier after a 19-year absence.

The Wrexham boss admitted his team fell below usual standards, but grinding out their latest three points is even more significant.

No side in the EFL has won as many points in front of their own fans as Wrexham after their wins over Wycombe, Reading, Shrewsbury and Crawley, and Parkinson said: “When you look at other results across the country – Stockport getting beat at home, Huddersfield losing – and when you’ve had really good runs, particularly at home, it can be difficult.

“Teams come with a lot of respect for you and set themselves up to play at their very best because they know they’ve got to, having seen the manner of our wins recently.

“Crawley were good but from our point of view it was about keeping this run going.”

The win made it the first time in 49 years since the last time Wrexham won their opening four home league fixtures, keeping them at the top of the early League One table ahead of Birmingham on goal difference.

Birmingham do have a game in hand, but Parkinson says it was key for his team – courtesy of Max Cleworth’s late goal – to bounce back after defeat at Blues, but questioned whether the disappointment at St Andrew’s was behind the below-par performance.

“When you get beat it can knock you - but it shouldn’t and I’m not sure if that was the reason,” he said.

“In the first three games of the season at home we’ve been excellent but we didn’t reach those levels with or without the ball and caused our own problems.

"But we’ve had games like that before over the years when you don’t play at your best for whatever reason – and it's up to myself and the staff to look for those reasons – but it’s about getting a result and finding a way to win.

"It was about getting back to winning ways and we did that.”

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Matchwinner Max Cleworth says Wrexham’s late win over Crawley was a fitting way to mark the club’s Gresford memorial tributes.

The club continued their long-standing marking of the 1934 disaster where 266 men lost their lives in an explosion at the nearby colliery, many of whom had been working a second shift in order to attend Wrexham’s fixture that afternoon.

Ahead of the 90th anniversary, Wrexham wore their special black away shirt, with a special pit-wheel and mining lamp patch, while a wreath was laid before the game which was preceded by a minute’s silence.

Academy product Cleworth – whose late goal ensured the hosts continued their unbeaten home start to the season despite a below-par performance – said the spirit shown by Phil Parkinson’s side was in keeping with the spirit of the community affected.

“As a team we’re delighted because we know what the day means, especially with it being 90 years since the disaster,” Cleworth, 22, said. “We know how much it meant to us as players, but especially the fans and obviously for those who have been affected it was important we put in a Wrexham performance.

“And although we weren’t at our best, we showed that fight that represents the town so we’re more than happy to get the three points.”

Cleworth, who scored his third goal of the season, added: “In terms of character, we’ve always had that belief that if we’re not at our best we can definitely get something from the game and we’ve proven that again.”

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Phil Parkinson says Wrexham need to show opponents Crawley Town the “utmost respect” as they aim to make it four wins in a row at the Stok Cae Ras.

Wrexham hope to bounce back from their first defeat of the season – Monday’s 3-1 loss at Birmingham City – by maintaining their perfect home record.

Play-off winners Crawley came up from League Two alongside Wrexham and Stockport last season, and currently sit 13th in League One with two wins from their opening five games.

But Parkinson is wary of expecting another straightforward Wrexham win on Saturday.

“We’ve got to make sure we give Crawley the utmost respect, which we certainly will, but be ready to impose ourselves on them as a team,” he said.

“After the Birmingham game, we’re really looking forward to running back out on our own turf and getting back to winning ways.

“Crawley are a similar style of team to how they played last year, but there’s been quite a lot of change in personnel. Quite a lot of players left who they didn’t want to lose, others who were happy to go. But they’ve recruited well.

“We’ve had a good run at home, but we don’t take that for granted.

“Those wins don’t just happen. There’s a lot of preparation and detail that goes into it, and the application of the players, too. We’ve got to be ready to run the hard yards.”

Wrexham are still top of League One – jointly with Birmingham – but Parkinson insists he is “not bothered” by their league position.

“People keep asking me about us being top of the table, but it means nothing until about 10 games in,” he said.

“I’m not bothered by table at the moment, I’m really not.

“I just want to see us producing performances which give us the best chance of winning. We’ll then see where we are in a few weeks’ and months’ time.”

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Wrexham have warned that the capacity at the Stok Racecourse could be reduced if persistent standing continues at matches.

The League One leaders face Crawley Town this Saturday at their home ground, which currently holds about 13,500 fans.

But a Wrexham statement says they have been “contacted on the matter of persistent standing during matches”.

They say the stadium’s safety certificate is granted by Wrexham county borough council and is monitored by the Sports Ground Safety Authority.

“If persistent standing is not stopped, we could face further action – including reduced capacity,” Wrexham’s statement said.

“We ask all supporters to help us to ensure persistent standing does not continue, and as a club we will act as necessary where supporters are continuing to stand persistently through the match.”

Wrexham say persistent standing at their all-seater stadium could lead to the closure of blocks of seats or even entire stands.

The statement added that the club are “grateful for the loyal, proud and noisy support” provided by fans but that they would not want “anybody to miss out on following this incredible journey we are on”.

Wrexham were beaten in the league for the first time this season at Birmingham City last Monday.

They are playing in the third tier of English football for the first time in 19 years following successive promotions.

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Birmingham City boss Chris Davies says he was pleased how his side did not get distracted by the hype of the ‘Hollywood derby’ against Wrexham.

He said the profile brought out the best of the promotion favourites as they inflicted a first defeat of the season on Phil Parkinson’s men.

Monday’s clash at St Andrew’s was a test of the two early pace-setters in League One, but gained huge extra attention because of the A-list nature of the club’s respective ownerships.

It is something Wrexham have become used to since being taken over by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2021.

But Davies praised his players for following the Dragons’ example in getting on with the job as he praised Parkinson’s "honest, hard-working" team after Blues’ comfortable 3-1 win.

Asked about the extra focus with McElhenney, Birmingham minority owner Tom Brady and ex-England captain David Beckham all in attendance, Davies, a former Wales youth international and Swansea City coach, said: “I really don’t pay any attention to that stuff.

"I had no idea what was going on and who was going to be here because that’s not my domain. What's important is what we do on the pitch, in training and how we approach the games.

“I’m pleased for the club that we’ve had the right kind of attention that we deserve. But all that stuff for me is no interest.

“But it pleased me it didn’t distract the players. It was something I did address with them but that’s not our domain, our domain is the pitch and what we do. It’s about focussing on the performance and the external stuff is irrelevant to us.

"It’s true, they will follow things on social media and they’ll know the attention and hype around the game, but I didn’t see any change at all from a concentration point of view or any pressure or anything like.

“If anything it made us better because it was all-round our best performance of the season.”

Birmingham are now behind Wrexham on just goal difference following the win as they maintained their unbeaten start to the season.

But Davies – a former No 2 to Brendan Rodgers at Celtic and Leicester City – played down the early-season significance adding: “We will not get carried away because, as we’ve seen already, this is a really difficult league and anyone who thinks it’s easy, they don’t understand the challenge ahead of us.

“Wrexham have had a very good start to the campaign, they’ve obviously built momentum from promotion, they know how to win and you could see here they have very honest players who will work hard, and are a club that’s invested a lot of money and have big ambitions, but we will focus on ourselves.

“My job is to make sure the players enjoy this and feel the confidence they should from it, but understand they still have a challenge.”

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Midfielder George Dobson says Wrexham’s defeat at Birmingham City was just a “minor blip” to their League One season.

The 3-1 defeat was the Dragons’ first league loss of the campaign, in front of a crowd of nearly 30,000 at St. Andrew’s.

Wrexham are still top of the table and host Crawley Town on Saturday.

“We’ve got to take a bit of perspective from here,” said Dobson after the game.

“Today is just one game. Now we bounce back on Saturday and go again because we have had a really good start and one game where we were not quite there isn't going to change that.

“They [Birmingham] are the best team in the division by a country mile. You don't spend the amount of money they've spent without having really good players, so it was a really tough test but it's one we will dissect, one we will learn from, and we'll take it into Saturday and take it into the rest of the season.

“We've had some really tough games already and we've got some really good results so it's just a minor blip.”

The game at St. Andrew’s was billed as the battle of the star owners, with Wrexham’s Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney up against NFL legend and Birmingham minority owner Tom Brady.

“For us it was just another game,” added Dobson.

“It was a really enjoyable game to play and you don't get many like that, but we’ll just move again and hopefully bounce back on Saturday, put in a strong performance and hopefully get three points and then tonight will be forgotten.”