Wrexham striker Paul Mullin has seen his role reduced somewhat in the 2024/25 campaign already.
Ahead of the season getting underway, Paul Mullin suffered an injury that kept him out of action.
In his stead, Jack Marriott, who had previously struggled at Wrexham, was partnering Ollie Palmer up top.
Marriott scored five in 10 League One matches before suffering a long-term injury. But even with the former Charlton Athletic man outfit, Mullin’s been unable to keep a regular starting berth.
Instead, Phil Parkinson has often deployed Elliot Lee in a makeshift striker role alongside the aforementioned Palmer.
It was a call that didn’t really work out but Mullin’s chances of starting remained low and decreased even further in the winter window.
Jay Rodriguez and Sam Smith were signed in late February, taking Wrexham’s centre-forward total to seven plus Lee and potentially Ryan Longman.
Phil Parkinson comments are bad news for Paul Mullin
With the two new additions plus Marriott and Fletcher already ahead of Mullin in the pecking order, his chances of featuring much in the rest of 2024/25 seemed low.
He’s been absent with a shin issue in their last three matches but when he does return, likely soon, he would have struggled to get back into the team anyway.
Mullin was given some hope by Parkinson of still being a useful asset when the Wrexham manager discussed utilising his entire squad.
However, when speaking this week, the former Bolton Wanderers boss has now suggested another forward will see more playing time going forward.
The man in question is Harry Ashfield who, as per Leader Live, Parkinson stated ‘deserves some inclusion’.
He said: “Young Ashy was very unlucky not to be involved, but he’d missed a week with his calf injury and only trained on Tuesday,” he said.
“I just felt that was a big ask for him in a game of this magnitude, to go back in with just one day’s training.
“But what a bonus he was for us at Port Vale, an outstanding performance.
“Can we get him involved from now until the end of the season? He is starting to look like a player who deserves some inclusion.”
How Paul Mullin compares to Wrexham competition
While he’s seen very little game time this term, it does look as though Parkinson wants to deploy Ashfield in a similar role to the one Lee failed to thrive in, playing just off the target man.
As a result, while Palmer, Fletcher and perhaps Smith aren’t competition for Mullin, he now has to compete for a place ahead of Ashfield, Marriott, Lee, and Rodriguez.
| Stats (all competitions) | Paul Mullin | Jack Marriott | Harry Ashfield | Elliot Lee | Jay Rodriguez |
| Appearances | 31 | 16 | 4 | 31 | 24 |
| Goals | 5 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| Assists | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
When no centre-forwards left Wrexham on deadline day it seemed quite strange given they have so many options.
And it now looks like at least a couple of their number nines, including Mullin, will be used sparingly for the rest of 2024/25