Phil Parkinson will have a tough call to make when he picks his Wrexham team to take on Birmingham City.
The Red Dragons are back in League One action at 8pm BST on Monday, September 16th.
Wrexham face Birmingham City away from home as they aim to continue their emphatic start to the campaign.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have taken the Welsh outfit from the National League to League One in just a few seasons.
And while Wrexham were expected to struggle, or at least not dominate, in the 2024/25 campaign, Phil Parkinson and his men are proving all the doubters wrong.
After five league fixtures, the newly promoted side sit top of the table following a run of four wins and one draw.
Wrexham’s 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers is their only blip so far this term but was still enough to see them sitting at the League One summit going into gameweek six.
However, Birmingham City, much like Bolton, are one of the promotion favourites this term and could be Parkinson’s biggest test of the season.
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Phil Parkinson told to avoid ‘harsh’ selection call for Birmingham City vs Wrexham
After Wrexham’s superb start to the campaign, they should now be considered one of the sides who will battle for promotion in 2024/25.
As a result, the away meeting with Birmingham could end up proving key in deciding who will be playing Championship football in 2025/26.
So, it is imperative Parkinson gets his team selection for Monday evening’s game spot on.
The biggest decision the former Bolton boss has to make is who will start up front out of Jack Marriott and Paul Mullin.
And speaking on the Rob. Ryan. Red podcast, Sky Sports’ Simeon Gholam has urged Parkinson not to drop Marriott for Mullin versus Birmingham.
He said: “You do feel like Phil Parkinson will maybe go with the team in the league.
“It would be harsh to rotate your team and then not give Marriot the chance in that game and then drop him because of what someone else did in the other game.”
“I mean Paul Mullin is not a bad option to have off the bench. I think it’ll be Marriot just based on the form he’s shown in the league so far.
“And I think Parkinson is the kind of guy who will stick with his guns in that kind of way but you never know.
“But the partnerships working so well I love Jack Marriott as a player and a person.”
Should Jack Marriott or Paul Mullin start for Wrexham vs Birmingham City
With Mullin injured, Marriott has begun the current campaign as Ollie Palmer’s primary striking partner.
The 30-year-old has enjoyed a prolific start to the season, scoring three in the club’s opening five league games.
However, this recent form is quite unusual for Marriott, who found the net just once in 17 League Two matches for Wrexham last term.
Mullin, on the other hand, is one of the best strikers in the EFL right now, scoring 101 and assisting 11 in 137 matches for the Welsh side in all competitions.
And with so much potentially riding on the meeting with Birmingham, it would not be surprising to see Parkinson bring Mullin back into the starting line-up, even if it is ‘harsh’ on Marriott.