Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer formed a lethal partnership at Wrexham for several years but have fallen out of favour recently.
Wrexham signed Paul Mullin in July 2021 in what was a major coup at the time given the striker had finished the previous season as the top scorer in League Two, helping Cambridge United secure promotion to the third tier.
Mullin has since cemented himself as an all-time great at the Racecourse Ground, finding the back of the net over 100 times.
The 30-year-old’s goals have been crucial to the recent success the Welsh side have enjoyed but Ollie Palmer also deserves a lot of credit.
Just over six months after Mullin’s arrival, Palmer joined in January 2022 from AFC Wimbledon and the duo instantly hit it off on the pitch.
The 33-year-old hasn’t had quite the same impact in terms of goals – 42 in 149 appearances – but his physical presence has been vital in Phil Parkinson’s system.
After firing them to back-to-back promotions, however, the iconic Wrexham duo have now fallen heavily out of favour in 2025.
Why Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer aren’t playing for Wrexham
Between them, the duo have found the net just six times in League One this term – returns that aren’t really suitable for a team currently battling for automatic promotion.
In turn, Wrexham signed two strikers in the 2025 January transfer window – Sam Smith from Reading and Jay Rodriguez from Burnley.
Following their arrivals, both Mullin and Palmer have seen their game time dramatically reduced in recent weeks.
Palmer has been left out of Wrexham’s last six League One matchday squads, while the Liverpool-born striker has been absent from five and didn’t get off the bench against Mansfield Town.
Now, as per Leader Live, Parkinson has been asked about the pair and Modou Faal’s absence and simply explained it’s down to the club having a lot of centre-forwards.
He said: “We’ve got a lot of strikers and it is difficult to keep everybody involved.
“We’ll keep assessing it and looking at training all the time, and pick the team and the bench accordingly.”
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Phil Parkinson explains why he’s starting Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez
As already mentioned, Smith and Rodriguez arrived in late January and instantly became Wrexham’s new starting striker pair.
The former Reading man has so far scored one league goal for the Red Dragons, while the ex-Burnley ace is yet to get off the mark.
Despite not seeing much of an uptick in goals from his new number nines, Parkinson is pleased with the duo and has explained what they bring to the team.
He said: “Playing to Jay’s feet, Sam is good at stretching it, but also their tactical awareness without the ball was brilliant.
“Jay has obviously played at the top level and the detail in the way he presses and covers space is brilliant, and it just helps the midfield so much.
“They are getting better all the time as a combination and I was very pleased with them both at Huddersfield.
“As much as they didn’t get the moment, they so nearly did. Jay had a brilliant shot and Sam’s had a header, but it’s all about playing well and enabling the team to get results, and they did that superbly well.”