Wrexham were looking to pick up their first home victory in five attempts when they hosted Rotherham United on Saturday.
Phil Parkinson stuck with largely the same eleven that beat Huddersfield Town in midweek, which was slightly surprising given the number of games Wrexham are playing right now.
There was one enforced change as Elliot Lee came back into midfield alongside Ollie Rathbone and Matty James following an injury to Geroge Dobson.
Wrexham icons Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer were also ommited from the matchday squad once more, with neither featuring in any of the last seven League One squads.
Interestingly, James McClean and Ryan Barnett were started on the bench for the meeting, with Sebastian Revan and Ryan Longman keeping their places at wing-back.
Sam Smith scored but another Wrexham ace was Man of the Match vs Rotherham United
After an underwhelming first half from both teams, Wrexham took the lead after 48 minutes via new signing Sam Smith.
Rotherham grew into the match following the goal and began to apply some pressure on the home outfit’s backline.
Smith’s strike was enough to see Wrexham secure a 1-0 win, however, and go level on points with Wycombe Wanderers in the table.
He’s now scored two for the Red Dragons and 13 in League One this season, but while he played well and his effort was obviously huge, another player was equally as important in the win.
Evans’ side saw a lot of the ball in the Wrexham third in the last 25 minutes of the tie, but they were largely kept at bay by the heroics of Eoghan O’Conell and the rest of the backline.
Eoghan O’Connell stats in Wrexham win over Rotherham United
Every Wrexham defender looked solid on Saturday, but none were quite as impressive as O’Conell.
| Stats | Eoghan O’Connell vs Rotherham |
| Clearances | 16 |
| Duels (won) | 20 (16) |
| Tackles | 1 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Long balls (accurate) | 8 (5) |
| Sofascore rating | 7.9 (team high) |
O’Connell’s form has been questioned at times in 2025, but his showing versus Rotherham will have been much more familiar to fans.
His return to form comes at a great time as star defender Lewis Brunt has been absent for several fixtures now for an undisclosed reason.