Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson believes tomorrow’s clash with promotion rivals Wycombe Wanderers isn’t ‘season defining’.
The Red Dragons are chasing down a historic third successive promotion which would see them rise to the Championship for the first time since 1982. They suffered a blow on Tuesday night when they lost 2-0 at Reading, missing the opportunity to move into the automatic promotion places.
They travel to Buckinghamshire tomorrow afternoon to take on second placed Wycombe Wanderers in a game which is seen as a real six-pointer. The two sides are locked on points, although the Chairboys do possess a better goal difference and a game in hand.
Parkinson Makes Interesting Claim
With so much potentially riding on the game, few would be forgiven for thinking that the winner will be playing Championship football next season. Parkinson isn’t one of them though. Whilst accepting that it is an important game, he was quick to stress that nothing will be decided at Adams Park tomorrow afternoon. Speaking to the BBC, he said:
“I don’t look at it as season defining because after Saturday there will still be nine games left and a lot of football to be played, but obviously it’s an important one, we can’t hide away from that.
“It’s a great challenge for us going down there and we know what’s at stake and we need to concentrate on what we need to do.
“They’ve had a good season, so have we, and it’s going to be very close.”
Continuing, the former Sunderland boss said that the players are full focused on the game having put their defeat against Reading behind them:
“When you lose it’s obviously disappointing, you can’t hide away from that, but it’s about picking yourselves up and analysing what we can do better.
“The lads have recovered well – and I feel the lads are very focused about what we’ve got to do.”
Writer’s View
Whilst Parkinson is right that there are still nine games to play after tomorrow, you have to feel that if Wycombe were to secure the three points, it could be the end of Wrexham’s automatic promotion ambitions. That would see the Chairboys move three points clear whilst also having an extra game to play. It would still be a slender lead though and nothing will be settled tomorrow. A draw would make this an exciting race to watch for the remainder of the campaign.
