Wrexham racked up another home win on Sunday afternoon, beating Shaun Maloney’s Wigan Athletic 2-1 at the STōK Cae Ras.
2024 is almost over and Wrexham fans can reflect on another superb year.
Phil Parkinson guided Wrexham to promotion in April, a second promotion in a row as the Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds project took a big step forward.
League One was always going to be a challenge but Wrexham have stood up to it and now sit second in the table heading into 2025.
Wycombe Wanderers dropped points against Charlton Athletic but Wrexham still had to take advantage.
Wrexham secured a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic on Sunday with Parkinson hailing Steven Fletcher for his performance and winning goal.
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Wigan Athletic boss pinpoints Wrexham threat
It wasn’t exactly pretty from Wrexham on Sunday but Fletcher’s winning goal – his second in a matter of days – proved to be the winner.
Wrexham end 2024 with two home wins in a matter of days and will be looking to kick off 2025 in style against Barnsley.
Wigan boss Shaun Maloney has pointed out Wrexham’s spending under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, highlighting investment that he just hasn’t been able to benefit from at Wigan.
Maloney has also told Wigan Today that Wrexham are ‘really dangerous’ and highlighted how goalkeeper Mark Howard caused problems.
Maloney feels that Wrexham pose such a threat when allowing Howard to aim long balls forward towards Ollie Palmer and Paul Mullin.
The Latics boss was happy with how his side performed on the day but they just didn’t quite have enough to get the job done.
“They are a really dangerous team, every time their goalkeeper has it you know they can cause problems with the long ball, but I couldn’t ask any more of us with and without the ball,” said Maloney.
“Again, we probably had chances we should have taken, but they’ve given me everything out there,” he added.
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Mark Howard may lose his Wrexham spot soon
Maloney no doubt feels that this threat comes from whoever Wrexham’s goalkeeper is, rather than specifically about Howard.
The veteran stopper has stepped up of late with Arthur Okonkwo out injured and Callum Burton potentially out for the season.
Okonkwo is now coming back from injury and we would expect to see him go back into Wrexham’s starting XI soon enough.
Okonkwo was named on the bench against Wigan Athletic as he ramps up his return.
That long ball threat isn’t going anywhere though and whether it’s Okonkwo or Howard, League One defenders need to be prepared for the battle.