Wrexham almost achieved the unthinkable on their opening championship game of the season, leading against Southampton before losing in dramatic style.
Wrexham had the lead against Southampton for 90 minutes of the game. New boy Josh Windass scored a debut goal in the first half and it took the Saints until the 90th minute to find an equaliser, with Ryan Manning scoring a stunning free kick.
But Phil Parkinson will be devastated how his side then threw away what would have been a solid point as Saints captain Jack Stephens ended up scoring in the 96th minute to seal the win for Southampton.
Here are five things we learned after Wrexham’s 2-1 defeat against Southampton…
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Josh Windass has magic in his boots
When Wrexham signed Windass on a free transfer, everyone knew the talent that he had. Last season, the 31-year-old scored 13 goals in the Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday and immediately he looked like the real deal in a Wrexham shirt.
In the opening stages, Windass hit the bar with a curling effort before then scoring Wrexham’s first championship goal from the spot. We saw glimpses of a real quality forward in the opener against Southampton and we also saw some good link-up play between Windass and Kieffer Moore, including in the build-up to Moore winning the penalty which Windass then converted.
Set-pieces could be a new secret weapon for Wrexham
Wrexham had a good couple of opportunities from set plays against Southampton. In the first half in particular, one from a corner and one from a free kick arguably should have ended in goals for Parkinson’s side.
With some towering players who are good in the air like Moore and Conor Coady, who was exceptional in defence, Wrexham could be a real force from set pieces this season and it could prove to be an important source of goals for the Dragons.
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Phil Parkinson ready to be ruthless with Wrexham selection
Parkinson’s Wrexham XI against Southampton raised a few eyebrows before kick-off, notably the decision to drop Arthur Okonkwo and replace him with Danny Ward.
Wrexham fans were unimpressed with the signing of Ward, but he looked steady in the first half. It comes after Okonkwo made a couple of errors in pre-season, following on from his 2024/25 season which also saw the former Arsenal man make a few individual errors.
There was also James McClean who was dropped for new signing Liberato Cacace. It proves that Parkinson is ready to be ruthless and to pick the best team for each individual game.
Wrexham have game-changers on the bench
Wrexham have attacking depth now following a flurry of signings in the last few weeks. Moore, who also impressed on his Wrexham debut, had to come off shortly before the hour mark with an ankle injury and he was replaced by Sam Smith.
Last January, Wrexham paid £2million to sign Smith in what was a club record deal at the time, and Parkinson even overlooked Ryan Hardie to bring on Smith. With so many decent options in attack, Parkinson won’t have to worry too much about injuries, and he’ll also have plenty of options to rotate and to bring on in games too.
Wrexham are not yet the finished product
Whilst we saw a lot of positives from Wrexham on Saturday, the way they capitulated at the end was certainly worrying.
It suggests that this team is not yet ready to challenge for what will be an incredible fourth straight promotion, although it is still very early doors in the season, and thankfully for Parkinson, there is still time left in the summer transfer window.
The summer transfer window shuts on September 1st, and Parkinson recently said that Wrexham are working on new signings, so with a few new additions in key areas on the pitch, Wrexham could avoid these kinds of defeats going forward.