Wrexham fell to defeat against Stockport County on Saturday, but the performance of their replacement goalkeeper was encouraging.
Stockport beat Wrexham 1-0 at Edgeley Park, with a stunning strike from Louie Barry enough to deny the Red Dragons three crucial points.
Phil Parkinson made some bold selection calls for the trip to Greater Manchester, with Paul Mullin dropped for Jon Dadi Bodvarsson. Wrexham were also without Steven Fletcher and Luke Bolton for the match due to injury.
Undoubtedly, though, Wrexham’s most crucial absentee was shot-stopper Arthur Okonkwo. Okonkwo suffered a broken wrist that will keep him out for six weeks, missing the ever-important Christmas period.
Red Dragons fans may have been worried about their goalkeeping position ahead of the Stockport clash, but they would’ve been pleasantly surprised by the performance of backup keeper Callum Burton.
Wrexham fans praise Callum Burton’s performance in goal
Taking to social media site, X, Wrexham fans were all aligned in their praise of Burton’s performance against Stockport.
One Red Dragons fan posted in response to Burton’s double save, saying: “Well done Burton, he saved us again!” Whilst another simply added: “Thank you, Burton!”
Another fan said: “Liking what I’m seeing from Burton in goal. Really like the fact that we have three quality keepers.”
Wrexham fans were full of praise for the shot-stopper at halftime, with one posting: “Callum Burton keeping us in this says it all.” Another added: “Fortunate to only be one goal down at the break, Burton’s kept us in it.”
Full-time also saw plenty of praise heaped upon Burton. One fan said: “Callum Burton is some keeper, fair play!”, with another saying: “We’re in safe hands with Burton.”
Stats highlight Burton’s Man of the Match display vs Stockport
Burton was one of the few bright sparks in Wrexham’s 1-0 defeat to Stockport, with the stats highlighting his impressive show.
Burton made seven saves in the match, facing an expected goals against of 2.03. This meant that the keeper statistically prevented a goal for Wrexham, sparing an even more difficult result for Parkinson’s side.
His passing was also respectable, completing ten of his 19 passes, a percentage of 53%. This was 12% more than Ben Hinchcliffe between the opposition sticks.
Wrexham fans won’t see Okonkwo at the Racecourse Ground for the foreseeable future, which may have seemed a daunting task before today. Burton’s impressive display against Stockport will at least give them some assurance ahead of the busy period of games ahead.