The two clubs look set to battle it out for the final play-off berth
Phil Parkinson at the Kassam Stadium (Image: Alex Burstow/Getty Images)
Wrexham supremo Phil Parkinson admits he wasn’t surprised Leicester City fought back to earn a point against Hull City on Tuesday night, and had challenged his players not to allow the Tigers an easy passage into the top six.
The Tigers were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium, which relegated the Foxes, but allowed Wrexham to jump above Sergej Jakirovic’s side into the top six with two games to go.
For City, it was a fifth game without a victory, while Wrexham have responded well to a heavy home defeat to Southampton and away loss at Birmingham City, with successive wins, including on Tuesday at relegation-threatened Oxford United.
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“Did we believe (Hull City) would drop points going to Leicester? We knew Leicester needed to win, so we felt they would have a right go, but it was all about what we did, and we performed really well,” the ex-Tigers chief said after watching his side win at the Kassam Stadium.
“We spoke to the lads prior to the Stoke game about pushing all the way; we got a brilliant win, and we have backed it up with a really hard-fought victory.
“To hit 70 points in our first season in the Championship is a good achievement – but it’s not the achievement we want to be remembered for. It’s a good benchmark for us, now can we add to that in the final two games?
“Hull (City) going to Leicester, it’s like us coming here. Everyone thinks the top teams will go and win. It is hard because Leicester have got a lot of pride, they needed to get a win and they nearly did at 2-2, and Oxford are scrapping for everything. They’ve got some good players but it was important that we did our job and we did our job to a man.”
Wrexham now go to champions Coventry City on Sunday, 24 hours after the Tigers will have tackled Charlton Athletic, who need a result to secure their safety.
“The (Premier League) dream is still alive for us and the lads,” Parkinson continued. “I feel we are in a good place. Nothing more we can do than win and we just concentrated on making right decisions from the bench and getting another three points. which takes us up to 70 points.
“I think that’s a good benchmark for us, 70 points in the first season in the Championship, it really is. Obviously, we want more, but 70 points is a good statement for us to get that in our first season. And now with two games to go, can we add to that?
“The aim before the Stoke game (where they won 2-0), we spoke to the lads about not handing the play-off berth to Hull. I think that was the key, and now we’re in a lot stronger position than we were Saturday morning,” he continued.
“Now, where can we be come Sunday evening? I think everybody’s going to be thinking about the context of the games coming up, two to go in a 46-game season. We just want to concentrate on ourselves and we will do that.”
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