Wrexham beat Salford City in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night but new signing Modou Faal endured a tricky first start for the club.
After the high of Saturday’s derby day win over Shrewsbury Town, Wrexham’s attention turned to the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.
Now branded as the ‘Bristol Street Motors Trophy’, Wrexham welcomed Salford City to the STōK Cae Ras for an important cup tie.
Phil Parkinson largely used the game to give vital minutes to fringe and returning players.
Paul Mullin was one of those as he made his first start of the season and fired Wrexham into a 1-0 lead.
Salford equalised through Conor McAleny but Wrexham won it as Will Boyle appeared to score, only for the goal to officially go down as a Josh Austerfield own goal.
Modou Faal in underwhelming Wrexham debut
This was a decent run-out for Wrexham with players given some valuable minutes in a competitive setting.
Parkinson named a rather disjointed team but handed a debut to new signing Modou Faal.
Striker Faal joined Wrexham on transfer deadline day, completing a move from West Bromwich Albion.
With a rumoured fee of around £500,000, Faal arrives with big expectations with boss Parkinson certainly excited by his capture.
Faal was given a debut against Salford as he partnered Mullin up front, but it was a fairly disappointing outing.
Nothing really worked for Faal and he was eventually substituted in favour of Harry Ashfield with 12 minutes to play.
Faal wasn’t able to really threaten the Salford goal and didn’t exactly stake his claim for a starting role in League One.
Patience needed over Faal
Wrexham fans have voiced their disappointment with Faal on social media having been left unimpressed with his debut display.
Faal does though need some time to really get going at Wrexham and it’s important to have some patient with him.
Faal has only just arrived from West Bromwich Albion and is settling into the first major permanent transfer of his career.
That is a big deal for a young player and Faal hasn’t even been at the club for two weeks yet; he is still in the ‘fitting in’ process at Wrexham.
Faal showed promising signs on loan at Doncaster Rovers and Walsall last season, hitting 15 goals over the course of the season.
That is a promising record but Faal is far from the finished product – something Wrexham knew upon signing him.
This is a long-term move for Wrexham and we may not even see the best of Faal until next season and beyond.
The hope is that Faal can learn enough from the likes of Ollie Palmer and Steven Fletcher before eventually taking over from them as Wrexham’s leading target man.
Wrexham have signed a project in Faal, a big change from the regular signings of proven, tried-and-tested players.
One appearance – his first in a Wrexham shirt and surrounded by a disjointed lineup – shouldn’t leave fans questioning Faal’s arrival.
Jack Marriott is now thriving after initially being doubted after his January arrival and that should serve as a lesson; new signings often need patience and should not be written off so quickly.
Faal has bags of talent in his locker and Parkinson will be confident of turning him into a real Wrexham success – even if it may take a while.