Not for the first time of late, Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham were far from their best as they defeated fellow League One high-flyers Mansfield Town at the Racecourse.
Wrexham had not won any of their four matches since hammering Northampton Town 4-1 over a month ago. The last truly eye-catching display from a team who have underperformed since then.
But after being held by Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United, after conceding a 97th minute equaliser to Charlton and being dumped out of the FA Cup by Harrogate, Parkinson was just happy to get back to winning ways.
It had been a while.
And while Wrexham delivered a performance which will not exactly stick in the mind for long – Ryan Barnett’s winner was a moment of class in a rather bitty game – Parkinson is pleased enough to see his team show the resolve and the character to protect that narrow lead from for well over 80 minutes.
Phil Parkinson lauds Wrexham defence as Max Cleworth shines
“We have had games like that where we’ve just got to make sure that we roll our sleeves up and just realise that we’re not at our fluid best in terms of our football,” Parkinson told reporters at full-time.
“[On those occasions, we have to] just stand strong and everyone [has to] do their jobs out of possession. In general, we did that.”
Parkinson, of course, singled out Barnett for praise.
Barnett has been linked with Championship duo Preston and Stoke City recently, and the in-form winger enhanced his reputation further with a well-struck effort from just outside of the Mansfield penalty area.
Between them, Scarr and Cleworth made 14 clearances against Nigel Clough’s side. The latter is showing few signs of rust after a recent spell out of the team with injury, Cleworth back in the XI and back to his best.
But, while Barnett was clearly the standout in Wrexham colours, Parkinson was keen to highlight the role central defensive trio Max Cleworth, Tom O’Connor and Dan Scarr played in securing a first clean sheet in three matches.
“I thought, in the first-half, we let [Mansfield’s] front two dictate to us a little bit. But, second-half, we did better at that, and the the back-three gave us a platform to win the game,” Parkinson adds.
“So, yeah we are pleased to win.
Parkinson happy to end Wrexham’s winless run against Mansfield Town
With Birmingham City throwing away what looked like a certain win in stoppage time against Northampton, Wrexham cut the gap between themselves and Chris Davies’ Blues to just two points while knocking Mansfield out of the play-off spots.
“At times, it was tenser than I would have liked,” the manager admits. “But you have got to make sure you stick together and grind out the results. That’s what it is all about over the course of 46 games. Good teams who end up at the top of the league can win all types of matches.
“We have got to have the make-up in our team to make sure we roll up our sleeves when it is not all going our way and I think we did that.
“Mansfield are a good team and have done well on their travels. So, we had to work exceptionally hard to get the win.
“Were we at our best? No. So, sometimes you have got to dig deep and work together as a team.”
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