Jordan Tunnicliffe has outlined where Wrexham need to improve to earn promotion – and it won’t be a surprise to many.
Wrexham suffered familiar problems on the road once more on Saturday as they lost 1-0 to play-off chasers Gillingham.
It’s becoming an issue that is increasingly worrying for Phil Parkinson’s side, especially when looking at where their away form ranks among the rest of League Two.
Whilst the Reds are top of the table for home form, they are 13th in the division for the amount of points accrued on their travels.
Last season, Wrexham had little issue winning their away matches and ranked second in the National League behind only Notts County.
But with increasing expectations placed on them in the fourth tier and the number of teams desperate to take their scalp, Parkinson’s men have struggled to adapt and they have ultimately paid the price.
Wrexham centre-back Jordan Tunnicliffe started his first match since the defeat to Salford City earlier this month and he puts their struggles down to not being ruthless in attack.
Jordan Tunnicliffe says Wrexham need to be more ruthless to earn promotion
In the National League last term, Wrexham’s strike force of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer scored 56 goals between them – an impressive total that Parkinson hoped they would replicate in League Two.
Sadly, Palmer has largely been frozen out of his plans and Mullin is currently going through the worst spell of his Reds career in front of goal having failed to score in his last seven matches.
Of course, whilst his drop-off in form isn’t the sole reason why they’ve struggled to put teams away on their travels, Tunnicliffe believes his side has to rediscover their killer instinct to improve their promotion chances
“It is all to play for,” he says. “We need to repeat what we did last season and that is show a killer instinct away from home. We were good on the road last season and we need to get back to that.”
Phil Parkinson needs to get Paul Mullin firing again
Mullin is the talismanic figure that Wrexham relied on last term and since he’s suffered a drop-off in form, none of the other strikers, aside from Steven Fletcher, have stepped up.
This is a cause of concern for Parkinson, especially after bringing in seasoned EFL striker Jack Marriott through the door on transfer deadline day.
With several striking options at his disposal, the ball shouldn’t just fall at the feet of Mullin, although the statistics do demonstrate his importance to the side.
In the 11 matches that the 29-year-old has scored or assisted in this season, Wrexham have only lost once, a 3-1 defeat against Walsall in December.
It is therefore imperative that Parkinson gets Mullin firing again as he holds the key to their chances of winning promotion.