Wrexham have moved another step closer to securing a spot in League One having beaten Crawley Town 4-1 at the STōK Cae Ras on Tuesday night.
Saturday’s win at Colchester United was the perfect response after losing 1-0 at Doncaster Rovers last week.
After two away games in a row, Wrexham were back at home and costed to victory against a Crawley side chasing a play-off spot.
Ryan Barnett opened the scoring with his first Wrexham goal before Paul Mullin added a second.
Andy Cannon found a third after the break and Mullin’s second put Wrexham out of sight at 4-0 up.
Klaidi Lolos did pull one back for Crawley but it was little more than a consolation as Wrexham wrapped up all three points.
Wrexham sit second in League Two with just three games to go and promotion to League One is in sight with just five points needed to be absolutely sure.
Andy Cannon on Arthur Okonkwo
There were a number of outstanding performances for Wrexham on Tuesday night as Crawley just had no answer for Phil Parkinson’s side.
Midfielder Cannon – who set up the second goal and scored the third – has now offered praise to goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo.
The Arsenal loanee will be gutted to have seen a clean sheet disappear in the final stages of the game, but his performance was a strong one.
Okonkwo produced seven saves and made three claims from crosses, as per stats by WhoScored.
Cannon has now told Wrexham’s official YouTube channel that he felt Okonkwo was ‘outstanding’ against Crawley.
Cannon praised Okonkwo for coming and claiming crosses into the box, believing that he deserved a clean sheet as that late Crawley goal sparked some disappointment.
“It’s just more for the defenders and obviously Arthur,” said Cannon. “I think Arthur deserved a clean sheet tonight, he was outstanding, coming and claiming everything so I think he would have deserved a clean sheet,” he added.
Can Wrexham keep Okonkwo?
Wrexham are so close to promotion now and getting over the line would certainly help in terms of the transfer window.
Players are already attracted by the idea of playing for Wrexham but that would only grow with a rise into League One.
We would imagine that Okonkwo is an absolute priority for Wrexham having emerged as the first-choice stopper this season.
Out of contract at Arsenal this summer, Okonkwo is bound to have plenty of suitors but he has surely loved his time at Wrexham.
A permanent deal for Okonkwo would be perfect, giving Wrexham another talent with real resale value for the future.
The current Wrexham squad isn’t exactly full of those players, so Okonkwo seems like the ideal signing given his talent and potential.
There will be competition but we would love to see Wrexham secure Okonkwo for years to come after an impressive League Two campaign.