Wrexham take on Exeter City in League One this weekend and Phil Parkinson will meet a striker he considered signing last summer.
The League One promotion race continues this weekend as Wrexham make the long trip down to Devon.
Wrexham take on Exeter City at St James Park on Saturday, with Phil Parkinson chasing another win.
Parkinson watched Wrexham beat Stockport County 1-0 last weekend to reclaim second place in the League One table ahead of Wycombe Wanderers.
Wycombe do now have a game in hand, but Wrexham must only focus on themselves and continue to pick up victories.
Exeter are the next test for Wrexham, but Parkinson has picked up a number of away wins of late and will be confident of finding another.
Phil Parkinson set to face Josh Magennis
Exeter have been in decent form and are now six games unbeaten in League One, picking up two wins and four draws.
Those two wins have come at home, so Wrexham cannot take this weekend’s trip lightly.
Parkinson will have spent the week studying his opponents this weekend, but he knows Grecians striker Josh Magennis very well.
Parkinson coached Magennis at Bolton Wanderers before seemingly targeting a reunion at Wrexham last summer.
Reports in May 2024 suggested that Wrexham were targeting a deal for Magennis alongside fellow released Wigan Athletic players Tom Pearce and Stephen Humphrys.
The trio all ended up moving elsewhere, with Magennis deciding to join Exeter on a free transfer.
The 34-year-old striker has hit five goals and three assists across 36 League One games this season.
Magennis hasn’t scored since February 15 now, but Parkinson is well aware of the threat he can possess – and we will be keen to shut him down this weekend.
Parkinson clashed with former Wrexham target Magennis
Magennis was seemingly one striking option for Wrexham last summer, though the only forward who arrived was of a rather different profile.
Wrexham signed Modou Faal from West Bromwich Albion, as Parkinson snapped up a young target man rather than a veteran in Magennis.
Parkinson considered signing the Northern Ireland international front man, but they actually clashed during their time at Bolton Wanderers.
Wrexham boss Parkinson called on Magennis to work harder for the team, months before Magennis decided to leave cash-strapped Bolton.
“Josh put in his notice like quite a few of the lads and he was obviously hugely frustrated by not being paid for five months,” said Parkinson. “He put that in, the administrators appealed against it, and there is a hearing, going forward. My gripe with Josh is that he told us just as we were walking out to training and we’d picked the team and he knew we were already struggling. We know he is a very emotional lad, and it has affected him mentally in terms of what has happened, his career, and not getting any money. We will have to wait for the hearing to see whether Josh stays or whether he goes.”
“It was quite a brief chat I had with Josh, a rather heated exchange as you’d imagine. We were already under immense stress as a management team coming into this game. But when the dust has settled over the weekend we’ll assess what damage has been done,” he added.
That was a long time ago, and Parkinson may well have been willing to put it all in the past last summer.
Yet, instead of signing Magennis, Parkinson must now face him this weekend – and hope he doesn’t spoil Wrexham’s promotion push.