Wrexham failed to create breathing room between them their promotion rivals on Saturday losing 1-0 to Stockport County in League One.
After Wrexham beat Mansfield Town last Saturday, they would’ve hoped to tick off another one of their high-fling rivals. However, a Louie Barry strike from the edge of the box was enough to secure all three points for the hosts, with Phil Parkinson’s side struggling to break down The Hatters.
The result takes Stockport to within a position and a point of Wrexham in the League One table, whilst the Red Dragons failed to take advantage of a chance to leapfrog Birmingham City into the automatic promotion places.
Here are five things we learned as Wrexham fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Stockport County at Edgeley Park.
Wrexham’s away woes at Stockport continue
The two sides have shared near-identical journeys in recent seasons, but Wrexham will be sick of the sight of Edgeley Park.
Today’s defeat was their third consecutive loss at Stockport, having lost 2-1 in the National League and then suffering a humiliating 5-0 defeat in League Two last season.
Stockport will continue to be one of Wrexham’s key rivals for League One promotion this season, but disappointing results like these must not be repeated when they visit the rest of the chasing pack.
Parkinson’s target man gamble fails to deliver
Wrexham started a front two of Ollie Palmer and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson against Stockport after Parkinson dropped Paul Mullin to the bench.
In the first half, the Red Dragons completed just 13 accurate long balls, resulting in only 46 touches in the Stockport half.
Whether it was the right decision to drop Mullin remains up for debate, but the decision to aim long for Palmer and Bodvarsson was clearly ineffective throughout.
Callum Burton deputises well for Arthur Okonkwo
The buildup to the match was dominated by Wrexham’s goalkeeper woes after Arthur Okonkwo suffered a broken wrist against Mansfield Town.
Callum Burton was selected as Okonkwo’s replacement and showed that Parkinson’s side have a reliable backup between the sticks.
He could do nothing about Barry’s exceptional opener and prevented his side from going two goals down before the break with a superb double save.
The result may not have been ideal for Wrexham, but Burton’s solid performance will give Parkinson comfort for the six weeks he faces without his number-one goalkeeper.
James McClean was unusually quiet in attack
Usually a key piece of Wrexham’s attack, wing-back James McClean struggled to make an impact against Stockport.
McClean only completed three of his seven crosses to the Red Dragons’ target men, whilst only having five successful long balls.
He only had one touch in Stockport’s box but did perform reasonably well defensively, winning all three of his tackles.
Super-sub Paul Mullin fails to make an impact
Replacing Bodvarsson on the hour-mark, Mullin was unable to significantly impact the game in Wrexham’s favour.
He managed just six touches in his 30 minutes on the pitch, with only one of them being in the Stockport box. Mullin also found himself called offside on two occasions, which was more than his single shot.
Carlton Palmer urged Wrexham to replace Mullin, and his performance against Stockport did nothing to prove that opinion false.