Wrexham finished seventh after their 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough
Phil Parkinson, Manager of Wrexham(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
Phil Parkinson believes Wrexham will be better placed to challenge for a top-six finish next season, after narrowly missing out this season after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough.
Hosting promotion-chasing Boro on the final day, Wrexham sat sixth in the table heading into the game, as their hopes of producing a fourth consecutive promotion remained alive.
However, held to a 2-2 draw by Boro, who as a result missed out on automatic promotion, the North Wales outfit missed out on the play-offs thanks to Hull’s victory over Norwich, which moved them up to sixth.
Parkinson said: “We took the fight to the wire and it just wasn’t to be on the day. I don’t think we can ask the lads for much more than they gave us against a good side.
“Of course, we’re disappointed. We’ve enjoyed the season so much, and we didn’t want it to end, but it has. But obviously overall, to finish seventh is a real achievement in itself at this level.
“The fans have seen the team give everything today. We had to go a goal down, to respond the way we did I thought was brilliant. The second goal is the one which hurt us because it’s a soft one.
“But then we came out again in the second half and we obviously made changes when we were listening – we knew what scores were happening elsewhere. We just couldn’t quite get that third goal to take us into the playoffs.”
While Wrexham’s season now comes to an end, Parkinson is already looking to next season. After signing so many new players to adapt to their step-up to the Championship this term, Parkinson believes there will be some value in continuation next year in a group that grew into the season.
However, as you’d expect from the ambitious Red Dragons, they also plan on strengthening in some areas, with Parkinson determined to mount a more serious challenge next term, when the play-offs in the Championship expand to the teams finishing between third and eighth.
Parkinson said: “We know where we’d like to strengthen and what we need to improve on and we’ll do that. And we’ll make this squad as strong as we possibly can to… to mount a challenge next year. We’ll have a break now and we’ll come back and we’ll go again.”
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