Even as the dust was starting to settle on Wrexham’s ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of the play-offs, Phil Parkinson was unequivocal in his belief that a highest-ever league position was only the beginning for the club.
“There’s so much to be positive about going forward,” he said in the wake of the final day draw with Middlesbrough that ended those dreams of a fourth straight promotion.
“The new stand, the academy, things are only just starting. This squad, as it stands and with a pre-season together, will be stronger next year. We know where we’d like to strengthen and what we need to improve on. We will do that and make this squad as strong as we possibly can to mount a challenge next year.”
As Parkinson rightly pointed out after the 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough, the Welsh club will benefit from having a strong base to work from. Proven performers such as Josh Windass, Ben Sheaf, Dominic Hyam, Callum Doyle and Kieffer Moore would walk into most Championship starting XIs, even allowing for how the latter will be 34 when next season kicks off.
Wrexham, though, need more. Even when displaying their best form of the season from Christmas onwards, a points haul of 43 from 24 games was still only the sixth highest in the division.
Quality additions are needed to supplement the undoubted talent already at The Racecourse Ground. With that in mind, The Athletic has undertaken an audit of Parkinson’s squad to see where improvements need to be made.
Goalkeepers
Seventeen of Wrexham’s Championship peers conceded fewer than the 65 goals conceded by Arthur Okonkwo and Danny Ward last season, including relegated Oxford United.
Not totally damning in itself, even when factoring in how 37 of those were conceded on home soil, a tally only hapless Sheffield Wednesday could ‘beat’. All manner of other factors contributed, including early teething problems in defence and how control of midfield was ceded at times to the opposition.
However, once Opta’s more specific goalkeeping metric of ‘expected goals on target conceded’ (xGOT) is factored in, the picture painted is of a pair who did OK, but no more.
Wrexham players mob Okonkwo after his FA Cup penalty save vs Nottingham Forest (Nick Potts/Getty Images)
The 12 goals conceded by Ward pretty much tally with his xGOT of 12.82, while Okonkwo was beaten slightly more times (53) than his xGOT of 50.4 suggests should have been the case.
Both champions Coventry City and runners-up Ipswich Town boasted keepers who over-performed their xGOT, in Carl Rushworth (conceded 45, xGOT 51.72) and Christian Walton (37, xGOT 42.55) respectively. Likewise, even the 65 goals let in by Ivor Pandur of play-offs victors Hull came on the back of 69.45 xGOT.
Both Wrexham keepers had their moments. Particularly, Okonkwo, whose stoppage time saves in wins at Charlton Athletic and Millwall were of the very highest order.
But, problems remain, and it is interesting that all three of the club’s senior keepers are about to enter the final year of their respective contracts, including Callum Burton.
If Wrexham really are serious about making a concerted top two challenge, a goalkeeper capable of making important saves at key moments while also displaying consistently sound decision-making will be paramount.
Defenders
The area of the squad where Wrexham seem most settled. Callum Doyle deservedly won Players’ Player of the Year, while Dominic Hyam also made a huge impact after joining on deadline day.
Max Cleworth also stepped up another level with the minimum of fuss to play the most league minutes (3,595) of anyone in the Wrexham squad, although he dropped out of the starting XI in the final few weeks as a long campaign took its toll.
Little has been seen of Zak Vyner at centre-half, his appearances since joining in January having come as an emergency holding midfielder. But the 29-year-old’s consistency in defence for Bristol City suggests he’s likely to provide fierce competition for Cleworth on the right side of the back three.
Will we see more of Zak Vyner at the back in 2026-27? (Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)
Throw in Lewis Brunt, whose serious thigh injury suffered at Middlesbrough in October handed £5million signing Doyle his chance, and Dan Scarr, and Wrexham are well covered across the back even before Conor Coady’s return from a loan at Charlton Athletic.
The former England international has a year left on his contract with the option of extending by a further 12 months. But, it’s hard to see a way back, and another loan move may well be best for all parties, even allowing for how Parkinson has praised the Liverpudlian for his professionalism even when out of the team.
Wing-back
A key position throughout Parkinson’s five years at the helm, this is surely the area that needs most attention once the summer window opens on June 15.
Attempts were made to bolster both flanks in January with Terry Devlin (Portsmouth), Festy Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir), and Kosta Nedeljkovic (on loan at RB Leipzig from Aston Villa) all chased to varying degrees.
Devlin is again likely to be on the radar along with Issa Kabore, whose eight assists on loan from Manchester City were comfortably the highest by a Wrexham player. George Thomason, press-ganged into the role amid Liberato Cacace’s hamstring problems, provided another five down the left flank, to underline the pivotal role wing-backs play in this system.
Cacace did impress on his few outings, but it would be a huge risk to head into another season reliant on either the New Zealand international’s fitness or midfielder Thomason as his stand-in.
On the opposite flank, Ryan Longman and Ryan Barnett remain, but both could feasibly leave amid those attempts to strengthen out wide. Likewise, Seb Revan, following his return from a season-long loan at Burton Albion.
Midfield
An area where Wrexham are well-served, although injuries to Ben Sheaf and Matty James as winter turned to spring left a hole that others were unable to fill.
Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised by the pair bringing such composure and control to the centre of the park when playing together in tandem.
George Dobson could be pleased with his first season at this level, particularly how his energy pushed Wrexham on to the front foot. But he did cough up possession too often and too cheaply at times.
Ollie Rathbone impressed, particularly through his eye for a goal and the never-say-die spirit that helped keep Wrexham in games even when the midfield was struggling.
Like Rathbone, Lewis O’Brien was largely played in a more advanced role. At times, it worked well, especially early on when he netted three times in his first seven league starts.
But, with Opta deeming him to have missed seven ‘big chances’, there’s clearly work to be done by someone who has all the talent required to be part of a promotion team.
Maybe this could be more in a holding role, as O’Brien has certainly shown at previous clubs an ability to retain the ball in a fashion that others outside James and Sheaf sometimes struggle to match. Thomason, who started eight Championship games in midfield before the Christmas switch to wing-back, also offers further depth.
Lewis O’Brien spurned some big chances in 2025-26 (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Attack
In their first season at this level for 43 years, Wrexham largely veered between the 3-5-1-1 set-up that had proved so effective during the League One run-in and a box midfield featuring two number 10s behind a lone striker (3-4-3).
Parkinson explained his rationale behind switching between the two in our end-of-season review.
“Around the Birmingham defeat (on April 12), we were getting boxed off a little bit with the 3-4-3,” he said. “So, we needed to change the dynamics. This way (3-5-1-1)…it gives Windass a bit more freedom.
“It gives the midfield another pass. I’m not saying we won’t go back to 3-4-3. We’ve tended to pick it on a game-by-game basis with personnel. Sometimes, we went for the pressing legs of (Lewis) O’Brien and (Ollie) Rathbone, and had some great results with those two in there as the 10s.
“Other times, we have gone for a bit more football. It’s been dependent on who we are playing.”
Windass certainly revelled in that late-season “freedom”, netting four goals in the final four games to take his league tally to the season for 16. An impressive feat considering 13 of his 41 appearances came from the bench.
Whether this late surge of form will influence how Parkinson sets up next season remains to be seen. But Windass has surely proved his capabilities to a supporter base who took their time to truly embrace the 32-year-old, in part down to his long-standing reluctance to celebrate a goal.
Windass has gradually won over Wrexham’s fans (Harriet Massey/Getty Images)
Moore’s season was almost the inverse, starting strongly but then struggling in the final stages to such an extent that he netted just once after Boxing Day from 17 outings.
Sam Smith, having effectively been ignored in the first half of the season, stepped admirably into the breach to fill the gap left by the dip in form that followed Moore suffering a couple of injuries.
His record of scoring every 192.25 minutes in the Championship was bettered by only Windass (149.94) and Rathbone (165), and was significantly ahead of Moore (244.91) and Nathan Broadhead (271.57), according to Opta.
More is needed from record signing Broadhead next season, especially as there are times when he has seemed unplayable. If Wrexham can unlock the undoubted scoring potential in the Wales international, the club really would possess an attacking armoury to envy.
As for the rest, January signings Bailey Cadamarteri and Davis Keillor-Dunn barely had a kick during the run-in. One-time record signing Mo Faal’s future surely lies elsewhere, as do those of back-to-back-to-back promotion heroes Paul Mullin and Elliot Lee, despite having a year left apiece on their contracts. Ryan Hardie is another who could leave after being sent out on loan in January.
Andy Cannon and Jay Rodriguez have already been released to join the likes of Ben Tozer and Ollie Palmer, who left with the city’s grateful thanks. Parkinson’s job now is to bring in the necessary quality to turn the current squad into one capable of emulating those heroes from the past and bring Premier League football to north Wales for the first time.
