Phil Parkinson has now been told what issue he needs to resolve at Wrexham if they are to win promotion to League One this season.
The Reds continued their poor run of form away from home last Saturday as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against Salford City, the former employers of new signing Luke Bolton.
This was their third defeat in as many matches after losing on their travels against League Two rivals Newport County and in the FA Cup against Blackburn Rovers.
In the January transfer window, Phil Parkinson addressed one area of his defence by signing right wing-back Bolton, who will be chomping at the bit to make his first full debut at home to Bradford City this weekend.
Despite adding quality down the right, Parkinson’s biggest issue has come centrally and the continuous change of his personnel.
The Wrexham boss has used eight different players in that position, including Max Cleworth, Ben Tozer and Jordan Tunnicliffe, but he is still no closer to finding his preferred back three.
This is evidenced by their poor defensive record this season as only three teams in the top half, Morecambe, Crewe Alexandra and Notts County have conceded more goals than Wrexham’s total of 40 in League Two.
In their last three matches alone, the Reds have shipped eight goals and if they are to win promotion this term, Parkinson has been told that finding a settled back three should be his biggest priority.
Phil Parkinson’s biggest problem at Wrexham
Speaking on the Rob Ryan Red Podcast, Rich Fay said: “This is what concerns me the most, like we’ve said in the past, we’ve got a goalkeeper everyone agrees on, we’ve got Lee and Evans in midfield who everyone agrees on, we’ve got Mullin, Marriott and Fletcher strikers who everybody agrees on.”
He added: “You could ask two fans for their preferred back three and they could name three entirely different players. I still don’t think there is a standout defender really you say should be starting every single game because depending on the system and opposition, you can almost agree for a completely different back three.”
It is a concern that, despite surpassing the halfway point of the season, Parkinson still doesn’t have a settled defence that he can rely on.
That is partly down to the injuries he’s suffered in defensive areas, but also his reluctance to persist with the same back three.
When looking at their promotion rivals, Stockport County have largely kept with the same defensive pairing of Akil Wright and Fraser Horsfall while Mansfield’s partnership of Aden Flint and Lewis Brunt has been pivotal to their success.
If Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds are to celebrate promotion to the third tier in May, Parkinson needs to discover his best back three, and perhaps the return of the influential Tunnicliffe will help him achieve that.