A key player for Phil Parkinson has now been praised following Wrexham’s hammering of Crawley Town.
Wrexham are on the verge of achieving something special. Regardless of the money spent by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, Phil Parkinson‘s men are close to back-to-back promotions.
Just five points mathematically seals their promotion to League One, a level they’ve not played at since 2005 while results elsewhere could see Wrexham go up this weekend.
The Reds recorded a 4-1 victory over Crawley Town on Tuesday night as goals from Ryan Barnett, Andy Cannon and a double from Paul Mullin clinched all three points.
Treating their raucous home crowd to some exciting football, Barnett lifted the atmosphere by netting his first goal for the club.
The 24-year-old has been in tremendous form for Wrexham and despite missing a few games through injury, has largely kept January arrival Luke Bolton out of the team.
Ryan Barnett hailed as ‘terrifying’ for one thing he does at Wrexham
An all-encompassing right-wing-back, who drives Wrexham forward down the flank, Barnett is a joy to watch for Wrexham.
Arguably the best player in one-on-one situations at the club, the former Shrewsbury Town player has been described as ‘terrifying’ by journalist Rich Fay for how he runs at the opposition with his electric pace.
Praising the 24-year-old on the Rob Ryan Red podcast, Fay said: “He just looks seamless, and he is terrifying and when he’s one on one with a full back they must be absolutely crapping themselves as that sort of pure pace is so difficult to defend against.
“He does lovely little interchanging passes in the corner flags, he’s very good at beating a man and getting a cross in. But the second ball as well, the amount of times after a corner or a long throw, the ball is recycled out to Barney on the right and he puts one of those crosses into the back post; it’s a sight to behold.”
Ryan Barnett is crucial to how Wrexham play
Parkinson lines up his team in a 5-3-2 formation, relying on his wing-backs to support the attack and get forward at every opportunity.
As James McClean does down the left, Barnett is a constant menace to his opposition on the right, utilising his pace, superb dribbling and crossing ability to fire ammunition into Wrexham’s strikers.
Paul Mullin benefitted from his pinpoint crossing in the 2-1 win over Colchester United, as Barnett curled the ball beautifully onto the head of Mullin to spark a crucial comeback.
The wingers’ impact in a Wrexham jersey is also reinforced by his strong attacking metrics this term.
Here’s Ryan Barnett’s 23/24 statistics, as per Sofascore.
- 29 matches played
- 4 assists
- 1.1 key passes per game
- 11 big chances created
- 36.9 touches per game
- 0.9 (55%) successful dribbles per game
Others will earn recognition in Wrexham’s promotion push, but Barnett has gone under the radar having shone down the right recently.