Wrexham picked up a brilliant victory on Saturday afternoon, as Phil Parkinson’s side beat Norwich City 3-1 away from home.
Forget the negative view on Wrexham’s form – it’s now two wins in three Championship games.
Wrexham beat Millwall 2-0 on the road and, after last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to QPR, Phil Parkinson grabbed another away victory.
Jack Stacey’s first-half strike put Wrexham 1-0 behind, but a 12-minute salvo at the start of the second half saw Wrexham go 3-1 up.
Josh Windass scored either side of a Ryan Longman strike to secure the win, with Jovon Makama’s late goal ultimately not enough for the Canaries.
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Phil Parkinson praises Wrexham new boy Ben Sheaf
Wrexham had been backed to lose this one, but Norwich’s shaky home form always inspired some hope of a big away win.
Sure enough, Wrexham came up with the performance, and Windass returning to action proved to be a huge boost.
Parkinson rang the changes, with all three deadline day signings – Ben Sheaf, Issa Kabore and Dominic Hyam – making their first starts.
Hyam was solid at the back, Kabore bagged two assists in a stunning full debut, and midfielder Sheaf has now earned huge praise from Parkinson.
Speaking on Wrexham’s official YouTube channel, Parkinson praised Sheaf as a ‘class player’ with ‘real leadership qualities’.
Parkinson added that Wrexham still need to build up Sheaf’s sharpness after a stunted start to the season with Coventry City, but believes everybody can see just how good he can be in Wrexham’s midfield.
“Sheafy is just a class player, isn’t he? I think everyone can see that,” said Parkinson.
“He’s got real leadership qualities, he’s a class player. We’ve got to kind of get him to where we need him to be, gradually, but he showed so much quality today,” he added.
Wrexham midfield setup clicked for Phil Parkinson
We are used to seeing Parkinson line up in a 3-5-2 setup, with one midfielder sitting deep and the players on either side moving on to support the front two.
Parkinson switched it up against Norwich, playing Sheaf alongside George Dobson, with Lewis O’Brien and Josh Windass supporting Kieffer Moore in attack.
Perhaps it was some sense of familiarity from their Arsenal days, but Sheaf and Dobson formed a strong pairing in midfield and may just leave Parkinson to keep this system for the foreseeable future.
Wrexham fans were impressed with Sheaf, and having invested decent money in him on deadline day, it looks like the former Coventry star will have a huge role to play.