Wrexham faced a struggling Shrewsbury Town in a League One fixture on Thursday evening, aiming to end the night at the summit of League One.
Wycombe Wanderers lost their game in hand over the Welsh outfit last week and with Birmingham City not in action in midweek, the summit was there for the taking.
Wrexham selected a strong eleven to face Shrewsbury Town, though there was no place in it for Paul Mullin or Ollie Palmer – the latter of which didn’t even make the matchday squad.
Elliot Lee’s return to the side will have been a welcome boost for Phil Parkinson, as will Jack Marriott being fit enough to be named on the bench following a long-term injury picked up in October.
Wrexham fans were elated at Marriott’s inclusion versus Shrewsbury and likely fancied their teams’s chances of thumping 22nd-place Shrewsbury given the attacking firepower at their disposal.
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Wrexham fans send Phil Parkinson message after Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury went in front after 16 minutes on Thursday on the back of an Eoghan O’Connell slip but Wrexham were back on level terms fairly quickly.
Ryan Barnett whipped in a superb cross to star man Fletcher, who made it 1-1 with a leaping header.
However, the home team were in front once more after the 47th minute with O’Connell gifting them a goal yet again via a penalty kick.
Following his second big error of the match, Wrexhams fans took to social media and urged Parkinson to drop the out-of-form centre-back.
One fan wrote: “O’Connell is having a stinker fair play. Time for Scarr to come back into the side.”
“O’Connell needs dropping for Scarr for a game or two,” a third Wrexham supporter wrote.
A fourth stated: “O’Connell’s practically been at fault for the last 4 goals we’ve conceded. Give Scarr a chance.”
Another Red Dragons fan added: “Leave O’Connell in Salop,” with a sixth writing: “O’Connell having the mother of all stinkers. Genuinely needs to come off.”
While a seventh simply stated: “O’Connell disaster class again.”
Eoghan O’Connell Wrexham decline is baffling
The Welsh outfit have one of the best defensive records in League One this season and the 29-year-old has been a key part of that.
O’Connell was in superb form for Wrexham during the opening few months of the 2024/25 campaign.
But his form has well and truly fallen off a cliff of late, with Shrewsbury probably his worst display of the season.
O’Connell had a nightmare vs Barnsley earlier this month and with the League One promotion race so tight, Parkinson simply can’t allow out-of-form players to keep starting matches.