Ollie Rathbone will grab headlines, but 79-touch Wrexham star who won 13 duels was real MVP vs Northampton

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Wrexham and Northampton Town faced off in one of two early League One kick-offs on Saturday.

After two games in the EFL Trophy, Phil Parkinson made a number of changes to his starting eleven for the meeting with Northampton.

Arthur Okonkwo was surprisingly dropped back to the bench in place of Mark Howard despite excelling against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday.

Eoghan O’Connell regained his place in the Wrexham backline, seeing Dan Scarr drop down to the bench once more.

Elliot Lee was involved in an accident this week and was left out of the matchday squad altogether, while Matty James, George Dobson, and Ollie Rathbone all returned in midfield.

Up front, there were starts for new striking duo Jay Rodriguez and Sam Smith on Saturday afternoon.

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After Ollie Rathbone, and star shone for Wrexham vs Northampton

When the full-time whistle blew, Wrexham beat Northampton 2-0 thanks to goals from Smith and Rathbone.

It was great to see the club’s record signing get off the mark, while one of their former record transfers excelled.

Wrexham fans praised Rathbone versus Northampton and it’s easy to see why given how hard he worked and, of course, his goal.

However, as well as the midfielder, there’s another player who shone across the 90 but probably won’t get as much credit.

The man in question was Lewis Brunt, who has gone from strength to strength since arriving from Leicester City in the summer.

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Lewis Brunt stats for Wrexham vs Northampton are impressive

Prior to Saturday, Brunt was dominating League One in one important statistic and his importance to Wrexham cannot be understated.

Thomas O’Connor has featured as the right-sided centre-back on a few occasions recently while the ex-Leicester man has been injured or rested but he doesn’t come close to matching the 24-year-old.

Still only 24, Brunt can fire Wrexham to the Premier League if they are lucky, with it clear the stopper still has not hit his true ceiling.