Wrexham picked up a win over Crawley Town on Saturday and Phil Parkinson has spoken out on a key decision he made.
After losing to promotion rivals Birmingham City on Monday, Phil Parkinson will have been desperate to see his side bounce back over the weekend.
Wrexham faced off with Crawley Town at the Racecourse Ground and were clear favourites going into the game.
It was not the easy fixture some fans may have been hoping for, but the Red Dragons still emerged with a 2-1 win.
Max Cleworth received praise for Parkinson post-match after the ‘terrific’ defender scored the winner and played a key role in the opening goal.
Steven Fletcher tried to claim Cleworth’s effort but it was eventually credited to the centre-back, whose strike sees the Welsh outfit still top of League One going into the next round of fixtures.
Phil Parkinson speaks out on controversial Wrexham decision vs Crawley Town
Prior to Saturday’s clash, there was much debate about one area of the Wrexham team.
The possibility of Parkinson dropping Jack Marriott was deemed ‘harsh’ by one journalist last week.
The 30-year-old had four goals in six league matches prior to the weekend but was dropped to the bench for a returning Paul Mullin.
Parkinson’s decision to start Mullin ahead of Marriott paid off, with his men coming away with the win.
But while it likely seemed controversial in the eyes of many fans, the Wrexham boss has now explained his tactical choice, as per Leader Live.
He said: “I just felt that for us going forward, those two are so important players for us.
“We haven’t got a ‘this is our starting XI’ situation going on and I just felt that a bit of freshness at the top of the pitch would be important.
“We went with Paul but Jack has been brilliant and he knows that.
“He has come a long way for us since pre-season, he has done well and I don’t want him to get too disappointed because any striker knows that managers around the country change strikers around during games and from game to game to get that extra bit of sharpness at the top of the pitch.
“And if you think how much training the lads did in pre-season and how many games they have had, Paul needs the minutes so that will do him good but Jack will be ready when called upon again.”
When will Jack Marriott start for Wrexham again
While Wrexham did win against Crawley, Marriott will still likely feel hard done by.
The striker is playing for a new deal as he is now in the final 12 months of his current contract.
But after being dropped for Mullin despite being the club’s top scorer this season so far, Marriott may feel his chance to secure a future at Wrexham has already come and gone.
The Red Dragons are next in action on September 28th with a home meeting against Leyton Orient.
Mullin did not score last time out, so there is a chance Parkinson will give Marriott another opportunity to impress in that fixture.
But with the automatic-promotion race already heating up, the Wrexham boss may wish to stick with his more proven centre-forward options, which will be a big blow for Marriott.