Wrexham moved another step closer to promotion by beating Stockport County 1-0 at the STōK Cae Ras on Saturday afternoon.
The League One promotion race is into its final straight and Wrexham have now taken second place.
Wrexham saw Wycombe Wanderers beat Rotherham United in midweek to reclaim the final automatic promotion spot.
Wycombe weren’t in action this weekend though as their clash with Huddersfield Town was postponed due to international call-ups.
That gave Wrexham a chance to leapfrog the Chairboys once more – and Phil Parkinson’s side seized that opportunity.
Jay Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game, scoring on the rebound after Corey Addai had saved his spot kick.
Paul Merson on Wrexham fixtures
Stockport boss Dave Challinor has raged over Wrexham’s penalty, believing that his side were robbed at the STōK Cae Ras.
Wrexham won’t care about that – the 1-0 win is simply another step closer to the ultimate goal of automatic promotion.
Paul Merson praised Rodriguez for his goal, reacting quickly to score on the rebound.
Merson then looked at Wrexham’s fixtures in the run-in – and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
The pundit suggested to Sky Sports (22/03, 17:15) that Wrexham’s fixtures are so good that it looks like they have been put together by Phil Parkinson and co themselves.
Merson suggested that Wycombe will be under ‘severe pressure’ if Wrexham now string three wins together against Exeter City, Cambridge United and Burton Albion.
Merson added that later games against Charlton Athletic and Lincoln City may be favourable as they could have nothing to play for, concluding that Wrexham’s run-in looks ‘really, really nice’.
“Oh wow, did they put them together themselves?” said Merson.
“If they win them three games, you’d think it’s going to put severe pressure on Wycombe – severe pressure. By the time they go and play Charlton, Charlton might be in the play-offs already, Lincoln look like they’re going to have nothing to play for.
“There’s some nice fixtures there – really, really nice fixtures,” he added.
Wrexham fixtures in focus
Wrexham now have just eight games left to play – and we have to agree with Merson in believing that they are favourable on paper.
‘On paper’ is the operative phrase here as Wrexham must still get the job done on the pitch.
Still, Wrexham’s next five games are all against teams in the bottom nine places in the League One table.
Exeter City, Cambridge United, Burton Albion, Wigan Athletic and Bristol Rovers are next up for Wrexham – five games that would be viewed as ‘winnable’ for another promotion-casing side.
Wrexham then take on Blackpool, Charlton and Lincoln – three teams who may not have much to play for by the time they face Wrexham.
That is a very enticing run-in but Wrexham can’t ahead of themselves and must stay focused on the task at hand with promotion now so close.