Wrexham played out a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City on Thursday night with Phil Parkinson seeing am much improved performance.
Wrexham were dire last Thursday night, losing 2-1 away at rivals Shrewsbury Town.
Phil Parkinson had to prepare for another Thursday night game though as Wrexham’s home clash with Birmingham City received the big billing.
Wrexham took the lead with Ollie Rathbone curling home an outstanding goal to open the scoring.
Birmingham hit back through a deflected Lyndon Dykes header but Wrexham piled on the pressure in the second half.
The ball just wouldn’t go in though, meaning Wrexham had to settle for a point at the STōK Cae Ras.
Phil Parkinson hails Wrexham talent
Rob McElhenney was happy with a point in the end but Wrexham could easily have snatched all three.
This was a much better performance on the whole though and a far cry from last week’s display.
George Dobson has hailed goalscorer Rathbone but Parkinson’s praise went in the direction of defender Max Cleworth.
Cleworth once again started as Wrexham’s right-sided centre back, joining Dan Scarr and Tom O’Connor in the back three.
Cleworth enjoyed a fantastic performance and Parkinson paid tribute to the way in which he dealt with Birmingham’s big-money forward Jay Stansfield.
Parkinson told Sky Sports (23/01, 22:25) that whilst everybody talks about Stansfield’s talent, people may have come away even more impressed with Cleworth.
Parkinson praised Cleworth as ‘absolutely superb’, pointing out his athletic ability and his composure when defending.
The Wrexham boss had to stop himself though, joking that other clubs may just be eyeing him up for a January move.
“We were up against some good players tonight but I think Max Cleworth, up against Jay Stansfield, everyone’s talking about Jay Stansfield and what a good player he is, and he is a good player, but people might be talking about young Max tonight,” said Parkinson.
“The way he handled him, I thought he was superb, an absolutely superb performance. He showed what great athleticism he’s got, how calm he is in one-v-one situations defensively… I don’t want to talk him up too much because the transfer window is still open, but he was excellent tonight,” he added.
Max Cleworth interest is inevitable
Parkinson will hope to avoid any bids for Clewroth before the transfer deadline but interest in him is ultimately inevitable.
Clubs are always seeking athletic defenders who are comfortable on the ball and can defend in wide areas.
Cleworth continues to show those qualities and that he did against Stansfield – the most expensive player in league One history – says a lot.
Andy Morrell has backed Cleworth for a big future and we want to see the majority of that future in a Wrexham shirt.
The reality is though that clubs in the Championship and even Premier League are surely casting admiring glances in Cleworth’s direction and Wrexham may just have to fend off interest down the line.