Wrexham’s lead over Wycombe Wanderers in the race for promotion to the Championship was cut to just one point on Saturday.
Phil Parkinson‘s men were held to a disappointing 0-0 away at a struggling Wigan Athletic to give Wycombe a golden chance to close the gap. And they did exactly that, scoring in the 91st minute to cut Wrexham’s lead heading into the final four games of the 2024/25 League One season.
Wigan were actually surprisingly dominant in the early exchanges, forcing Wrexham back into their defensive third for the large bulk of the opening half. Eoghan O’Connell was kept particularly busy by the Wigan forward line in this period, being forced into a few important challenges and blocks in and around the penalty area.
At the other end of the pitch, Wrexham looked rather devoid of ideas. A George Dobson volley from the edge of the box which flew wide was the only real shot of note from Phil Parkinson’s men, who failed to force goalkeeper Sam Tickle into a single save in the first 45 minutes.
Things didn’t improve much for Wrexham at the start of the second half either as Wigan came within a whisker of taking a shock lead in the 64th minute through Maleace Asamoah Junior. The forward burst past Lewis Brunt on the right flank before forcing Arthur Akonkwo into a smart save at his near post with a powerful strike on goal.
Parkinson made a number of changes after that chance went abegging, bringing on Steven Fletcher, Elliot Lee and Ryan Barnett to try and ignite Wrexham’s attack.
Unlike the last meeting in which Fletcher came on to score the winner, the changes didn’t make much of a difference, as Wrexham failed to have a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
Wrexham player ratings vs Wigan
Arthur Okonkwo – 7/10
The Wrexham number one made a vital save on the hour mark to deny Asamoah Junior. It’s clear to see why he was nominated for League One player of the month recently.
Max Cleworth – 7/10
A busy outing for the Welsh defender as he forced into six clearances and seven defensive actions in total in the game. Impressively, Cleworth won 100% of his duels too.
Eoghan O’Connell – 8/10
O’Connell made a number of vital blocks and interceptions in the first half when Wigan were in the ascendancy. He made a rather astonishing 17 clearances in the game.
Lewis Brunt – 6/10
Caught out by Asamoah Junior’s pace early in the second half, but did well otherwise.
Ryan Longman – 6/10
The wing-back caused some problems with his running out wide, however his delivery into the box just wasn’t quite there on the day.
George Dobson – 5/10
Had one half-decent effort on goal in the first half, but Dobson’s passing was a bit too wayward at times as his 72% passing accuracy on the day attests.
Matty James – 5/10
Like Dobson, James’ passing wasn’t quite up to scratch for the bulk of the game, completing just 75% of his passes. He worked hard as per usual though.
Ollie Rathbone – 7/10
The best of Wrexham’s central midfielders on the day, Rathbone win eight duels and recovered possession an impressive five times during a dogged performance.
James McClean – 5/10
Lively as ever but his delivery from the left flank lacked a bit of quality on his return to Wigan.
Jay Rodriguez – 3/10
The veteran striker barely touched the ball while he was on the pitch, and lost seven out of his ten duels too. Not a great outing.
Sam Smith – 4/10
The club-record signing barely touched the ball all afternoon, with the delivery in the area just not being up to scratch all afternoon.
Substitutes
Elliot Lee – 5/10
Steven Fletcher – 5/10
Ryan Barnett – 5/10
Jack Marriott – 5/10