Wrexham faced off with Barnsley in a 3pm League One kick-off on Wednesday afternoon.
The Red Dragons will have been hoping to kick off the new year in style when they made the trip to Oakwell.
Wrexham’s away record against Barnsley is pretty dire and their overall record away from the Racecourse Ground this term hasn’t been great.
But after climbing into the top two at the end of 2024 with a win over Wigan Athletic, Phil Parkinson and co. will still have likely fancied their chances of coming away with three points.
Wrexham beat Barnsley 1-0 in the reverse fixture earlier this season in Wales but those three points were only secured by an injury-time winner from Ollie Rathbone, suggesting a tough test awaited in Yorkshire.
Wrexham fans in agreement about their team’s defending against Barnsley
Wrexham started the tie on the front foot before Davis Keillor-Dunn put Barnsley in front after 11 minutes with their first shot on goal.
The home side then doubled their advantage shortly before the half-hour mark via Adam Phillips.
Following Barnsley’s second of the day, Wrexham fans took to social media to hit out at their team’s defending on the day, with Mark Howard and Eoghan O’Connell coming in for a lot of criticism in particular.
One fan wrote: “No player busted a gut to get back to defend that. There were still only four players plus Howard in the box when it went in.”
A second added: “Big error on the ball by O’Connell,” with a third writing: “Eoghan O’Connell mistake, Reds a total mess at the back. Great finish. Uphill task.”
“He’s [O’Conell] usually got one big ‘omg what was he thinking?’ moment in him a game, but two in one play is a bit much. Defenders definitely the difference in this match…” another stated.
Another Wrexham fan added: “Mistake and then the worst recovery defending you’ll ever see from him too.”
A sixth simply stated: “Our defence ….. shocking,” while a seventh wrote: “We look awful at the back today, what’s going on?”
- READ MORE: Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds must now overrule Phil Parkinson to stop one Wrexham transfer
Wrexham should given Dan Scarr a chance
With Lewis Brunt missing from the matchday squad, Parkinson opted to replace him with Thomas O’Connor.
The defender had been a key player in 2023/24 before falling out of favour over the last few months.
O’Connor was subpar on Wednesday, however, and Dan Scarr should now be given a chance after being left on the bench in the club’s previous six league matchday squads.
Wrexham host Peterborough United on Saturday and will no doubt be desperate to change their fortunes at the back after what was a pretty woeful showing.