Wrexham

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Wrexham's League One clash with Lincoln City on 12 October has been postponed due to international call-ups within the Imps' squad.

The fixture - to be played at the Stok Racecourse - will now take place later in the season after the English Football League (EFL) approved Lincoln's request for the game to be postponed.

A rescheduled date will be confirmed by both clubs and the EFL in due course.

Wrexham currently sit second in the third tier, three points ahead of Lincoln who are third with a game in hand over Phil Parkinson's side.

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Wrexham forward Ava Suckley says it was "surreal" to score at the Stok Racecourse - but was left frustrated by Adran Premier defeat to Swansea City Women.

Wrexham remain without a point in this season’s top flight after Swansea beat the Red Dragons 3-2 in front of a crowd of more than 1,000 on Sunday.

Suckley, 20, lifted hopes with a well-taken goal which made it 1-1 10 minutes before half-time, only for the visitors to score twice in the second half.

Rosie Hughes netted what proved to be a late consolation goal for Wrexham.

On her goal, Wrexham fan Suckley said: “I don’t think I’ve felt anything like it, coming here week-in, week-out, watching the men’s team - to score here was surreal.

“To have so many young fans here is amazing. I wouldn’t have thought anything like this would have happened, all these kids to come out and watch. I’m just glad to be inspiring another generation.

“But it is frustrating not to get any points. We stepped up from last weekend but three losses is a bit of a confidence downer. But we’ll work hard in training and hopefully get the three points next week.”

Wrexham boss Steve Dale was unhappy at conceding two set-piece goals.

He said: “We need to click together and get more momentum in games and get after teams a little bit. The performance was much improved from last week but we have to move on and get ready for Aberystwyth next week.”

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Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson says losing Max Cleworth will be a blow as he waits to discover the extent of the defender's ankle injury.

Cleworth, 22, has been one of seven ever-presents in Wrexham's starting side during their impressive beginning to life in League One.

The homegrown centre-back - who has scored three and created one goal so far - had played every minute before limping off in the closing stages of Saturday's goalless draw at Leyton Orient.

Parkinson confirmed Cleworth had damaged his ankle ligaments but is hoping the problem is not too serious.

Cleworth will definitely miss Tuesday's trip to Stevenage, but Parkinson says he is happy with his options to replace last season's young player of the year.

Dan Scarr came in for Cleworth for the final minutes at Brisbane Road to make his first league appearance since signing from Plymouth.

Fellow summer arrival Lewis Brunt is also waiting to make his mark having joined from Leicester City.

"It would be a blow to lose Max, but injuries happen," said Parkinson. "It’s part and parcel of football, you have to cope with them.

"And we have got good players ready to come in. Dan Scarr has been outstanding ever since he walked into the building, Lewis Brunt has been waiting for his opportunity, there's Will Boyle, George Evans can play there.

"Of course we want everyone available and fit, but the reality is you will get injuries through the season, we just hope Max isn’t too bad."

Wrexham's point at Orient leaves them second in the League One table.

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Luca Muzzupappa
BBC Sport Wales

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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.”