Wrexham are through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup after beating League One side Reading 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Phil Parkinson can be pleased with the last couple of days after two Wrexham victories on the bounce.
Wrexham beat Norwich City 3-2 on Saturday and backed that up with a cup win over Reading, though the opener took a while to come.
Nathan Broadhead curled home a fantastic opener to put Wrexham 1-0 up, before heading home number two via the underside of the crossbar.
Wrexham were much improved in the second half and ran out deserved winners, with Parkinson and co now ready for the fourth round draw on Wednesday night.
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Nathan Broadhead kickstarts his Wrexham career
Wrexham paid big money to sign Nathan Broadhead, forking out around £7.5million to sign him from Ipswich Town.
Most Wrexham fans could never have imagined spending that kind of money on one player, so that brings some pressure on Broadhead.
The Welsh forward has endured a slow start to his Wrexham career due to injury, and was pretty quiet in the first half against Reading.
One strike of the ball summed up Broadhead’s quality, though, as he placed a fantastic curling strike into the net, opening the scoring for Wrexham.
Broadhead has also been credited with Wrexham’s second goal, as his header appeared to cross the line after striking the crossbar.
Broadhead’s brace proved to be crucial, and this display will hopefully give him a real boost of confidence moving forward.
Wrexham found the extra gear to ease home frustration
Wrexham weren’t particularly dangerous in the first half, and there were audible groans of frustration at times in the early stages of the second half.
Parkinson’s side needed to find another gear, and that’s exactly what happened.
Broadhead’s goal was a moment of real quality, but we also started to see James McClean and Elliot Lee become more and more influential.
Wrexham have been better on the road than at home this season, and perhaps a moment of magic was needed to bring fans and players to life.
Broadhead provided it, and Parkinson should be delighted with how his players really stepped up the pressure to secure the win.
A welcome clean sheet
Much has been made of Wrexham’s defending this season.
Many fans won’t pay too much attention to xG, but for those who do, Wrexham have given up the highest xG in the Championship this season.
Even in the Carabao Cup, Wrexham conceded five goals across two games against Hull City and Preston North End.
Parkinson is looking to tighten up without compromising Wrexham’s attacking threat, and Tuesday’s clean sheet was a welcome boost.
The back three of Lewis Brunt, Dan Scarr and Callum Doyle looked strong, and Callum Burton performed well in his first game for around nine months.
George Thomason catches the eye
Summer signing George Thomason made his Wrexham debut against Norwich City on Saturday afternoon, and he was handed a first start against Reading.
Thomason picked up a yellow card for a sliding challenge in the first half as Reading players surrounded the referee, and Royals players were again up in arms as Thomason committed another foul just minutes later.
Thomason was full-blooded in the tackle, but also showed his technical quality with some line-breaking passes through midfield in the second half.
Set pieces were another aspect of his game, as Thomason caused some mayhem for Reading stopper Jack Stevens with a couple of devilish left-footed deliveries from corners.
Thomason is still finding his feet at Wrexham after a frustrating injury, but there was more than enough to like about his display on Tuesday night.
3-4-2-1 is worth sticking with for Wrexham
Parkinson decided to go with a 3-4-2-1 system once again, having used that formation to great effect against Norwich City on Saturday.
Wrexham took a while to get going, but looked much more threatening after the break and caused problems for the Reading back line.
We are used to seeing a 3-5-2 system at Wrexham, but this subtle switch just allows Wrexham to find dangerous attacking players in pockets of space around the box.
Broadhead and Lee were much more involved in the second half, and while Wrexham are still learning this new approach, it’s something worth persisting with for the coming weeks in an attempt to pose a threat going forward while remaining solid at the back.