Welcome to Wrexham…Weekly—a weekly dose of the Welsh club that has a unique connection to Philadelphia, even though it’s over 3,000 miles away. Whether you’re a local Red Dragons supporter, or an intrigued observer, this is the place for you.

Now, let’s get into it.

League Two Table

EFL League Two Table – March 20, 2024

Wrexham news and highlights

• Yes, it’s a different sport, but as a Philadephia outlet, we’re obligated to share that the Phanatic spent three days at the Racecourse on a promotional trip to Wrexham.
• Wrexham Reserves looked flawless in a 7-1 thrashing of Salford City Reserves

Feature of the week: Wrexham slips but promotion is still within reach 

We stated last week that Tranmere, coming off a massive upset against league leaders Mansfield Town, had been punching above their weight. And maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for them to do it against a Wrexham squad that would be missing James McClean.

We also stated that it likely wouldn’t happen — but the football gods thought otherwise.

Despite 56% possession and outshooting Tranmere 25-8 (though a majority of their shots came from outside the box), the Red Dragons failed to put anything of substance together in the final third and lost 0-1. The team has now failed to score in each of the last two home games and walked away with a measly one point out of six available.

Pinch at the top

Flashback to a month or two ago and Wrexham fans were discussing formation changes and the need for more players to find the back of the net — striker Paul Mullin and midfielder Elliot Lee have each notched 15 goals of the squad’s 65 total. 

But with eight matches remaining, formation and strategic issues are cast aside and the sentiment is simply…win, however it needs to be done.

A mere seven points separate second-place Stockport County from sixth-place Barrow as League Two chaos is in full effect. You’d have to venture down to 11th-place Newport County to find a team that’s taken away six points from its last two matches.

Meanwhile, Mansfield Town grew its lead to four points at the top of the table. 

A disjointed final third

Winning is unlikely if Wrexham continues to fall apart in the final third. Only four of the team’s 25 shots against Tranmere were on target, and the team showed an inability to tighten up when it mattered most, with broken crosses and plenty of possession losses that led to Tranmere clearances. 

This isn’t the first time Wrexham has failed to put together offensive pushes. It was a common issue during skids last January and late February. Too often, the midfield is absent from the attack, forcing strikers to take ill-advised shots or preventing them from maintaining possession entirely. 

McClean’s suspension for yellow card accumulation during Saturday’s match didn’t help. The midfielder has registered two goals and two assists in the six games since moving to midfield and has played a vital role in building cohesion between the midfield and attack. He still has one more game to serve as part of his suspension.

Bump in the road

Even with two consecutive, disappointing matches, Wrexham still sits in the automatic promotion zone. Should they slip out of it, they will almost certainly be taking part in the promotion playoff. 

The team still holds one of the best home records in League Two (second to only MK Dons by a single point with a game in hand). And while some points have been dropped to draws along the way, they’ve only lost two of their previous nine matches, both by a score of 1-0.

Perhaps the fan doom and gloom stems from the timing of sluggishness. Rather than a slow start that propelled them to third-place, fans have watched a team that comfortably hung in the top one or two spots in the table suddenly slip. Let’s not forget that during this past fall, Wrexham went 22 matches across all competitions and only lost once.

Multiple losses in less than a month, with just as many draws, isn’t something you want to see in the campaign’s home stretch, but Wrexham isn’t alone in dropping points. That shakiness in the table might just be enough chaos to keep the Red Dragons sitting comfortably in the automatic promotion zone.