Wrexham defender Max Cleworth has now named the toughest opponent he faced during the 2023/24 campaign.
The 2023/24 campaign felt like a real breakthrough year for Max Cleworth at Wrexham.
Although he made 18 starts in their National League title-winning campaign, Cleworth was still used sporadically by Phil Parkinson.
The highly-rated centre-back didn’t feature at all in the final 11 matches of 2022/23 as Wrexham clinched promotion, and a similar trend followed in League Two.
Cleworth started just one of their first 21 matches back in the football league but that didn’t deter the youngster from impressing.
His opportunity to shine would come in the 2-0 win over Newport County in December and from that day, he never looked back, missing just two of their final 25 matches in the league.
Cleworth’s partnership would blossom alongside Eoghan O’Connell and Tom O’Connor, with the 21-year-old holding his own against some quality attackers.
Max Cleworth names the toughest opponent he faced in 2023/24
The Wrexham academy graduate has matured physically and mentally since earning a regular starting berth under Parkinson.
The Englishman has also faced some tough challenges, namely in the FA Cup against Blackburn Rovers where he came up against the Championship top scorer Sammie Szmodics.
Despite opening the scoring through Andy Cannon, Wrexham would lose the tie 4-1 and Cleworth didn’t hesitate when naming Szmodics as the toughest opponent he faced in 2023/24.
Speaking on the Fearless In Devotion podcast, the young defender said: “The Blackburn game, that Sammie Szmodics is obviously very good.
“I know he’s not in our league and will probably be in the Premier League next year but he sort of has a free role where he could go wherever he wanted.
“That made it tough because you don’t know whether to go with him; cause you don’t want him to have time on the ball, then if you go with him, you leave space in behind you. So I’d probably say someone like him.
When naming someone from League Two, Cleworth opted for Stockport County’s Kyle Wootton and Colchester’s powerhouse forward John Akinde, labelling the latter as “so strong”.
He added: “In our league, that Wootton for Stockport; he’s a big lad, even someone like Akinde for Colchester, he was so strong.”
A taste of what is to come for Max Cleworth
Cleworth played ninety minutes in Wrexham’s FA Cup tie against Blackburn and although Szmodics scored twice, his battle against the 28-year-old is a level of opponent he’ll have to get used to.
Former Wrexham player Andy Morrell has tipped the youngster to have a “big future” in the game and that should point towards him playing higher up the pyramid.
In League One next season, the quality of the opposition will move closer to the likes of Szmodics and Cleworth must be ready for the step up.
The ball-playing defender has already matured physically, though facing some bigger clubs, namely Huddersfield, Bolton Wanderers and Birmingham City will be a huge test for him.
Cleworth’s progression under Parkinson has been incredible and it will be interesting to see whether he holds his own in the third tier.