Wrexham’s pre-season campaign came to an end over the weekend with a pair of defeats against Dutch side FC Groningen.
Wrexham’s Championship opener against Southampton is now less than a week away.
Phil Parkinson’s focus will now fully turn to that fixture, after Wrexham’s pre-season friendlies came to an end on Saturday.
Wrexham travelled to the Netherlands on Saturday, playing two friendlies against Eredivisie outfit FC Groningen.
Parkinson rotated his squad for both games, but Wrexham fell to two defeats, losing the first game 1-0 before a 3-1 defeat later on Saturday.
Phil Parkinson on Conor Coady
Josh Windass bagged his first goal in a Wrexham shirt during the second game, scoring the equaliser to make it 1-1 before eventually falling to defeat.
In the first game, Parkinson handed chances to the likes of Danny Ward, Harry Ashfield and Ollie Palmer from the start.
Youngsters Callum Edwards, Tom Kelly, Alex Moore, Mo Faal and Rio Owen all came off the bench, receiving opportunities to shine in the second half.
This game also featured a first Wrexham appearance for Conor Coady following his move from Leicester City.
Coady joined Wrexham on Friday as Parkinson completed a £2million swoop for the former England international defender.
Coady played the full 90 minutes against Groningen, joining Eoghan O’Connell and Lewis Brunt in the back three.
Speaking to Wrexham’s official YouTube channel after both games had been completed, Parkinson reflected on Coady’s performance.
Parkinson felt that Coady needed the playing time as he learns to play with his new Wrexham teammates.
The Wrexham boss praised Coady for how he reads the game and how he communicates in the back four, which he believes will be ‘so important’.
“Yeah, he was good,” said Parkinson.
“We know about him: he’s assured, he reads the game really well, great communicator, which is so important and yeah, we just decided to play him in that game because he’d only met the lads briefly yesterday morning,” he added.
Phil Parkinson must now weigh up Conor Coady role v Southampton
Parkinson’s attention this week will entirely be on the Southampton game, preparing his lineup for a tough clash against the Saints.
Coady is a real conundrum, as his experience could be valuable as Wrexham make the trip down for a big game.
Parkinson tends to give his new players time to adjust to new surroundings, though, and Coady’s last few days have been a whirlwind, having completed his move to the STōK Cae Ras.
Whether one game against Groningen is enough to land a start remains to be seen, but Coady will be putting forward his case this week as he looks to impress in training.