‘It’s Up to Us’—Phil Parkinson Confident Wrexham Can Buck Unusual Championship Trend

The Red Dragons finished seventh in the EFL Championship last season.

Across the last 15 Championship seasons, only once has the seventh-placed team finished in the top half the following year. | Cody Froggatt/PA Images/Getty Images

Phil Parkinson is confident Wrexham can buck the trend of Championship teams struggling in the season after finishing seventh in the division.

The Red Dragons achieved the highest league finish in the club’s 162-year history last season, ending the campaign seventh and just two points outside the playoff positions. Had they turned one of their 14 draws into a win, Wrexham would have finished sixth ahead of Hull City on goal difference, with the Tigers subsequently securing promotion to the Premier League.

Wrexham have struggled in the opening months of the new season, recording just three wins from their first 12 league matches. That leaves them 17th in the table, although they remain within reach of the playoff places and six points clear of the relegation zone.

One win could significantly change the mood around the club, and Parkinson is determined to get that result when his side travels to face Sheffield United on Friday night.

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Phil Parkinson Determined to Buck Unusual Trend

Wrexham have become victims of their own success under Phil Parkinson this season. | Cody Froggatt/PA Images/Getty Images

Sports Illustrated revealed earlier this week an unusual trend affecting teams that finish seventh in the Championship. Across the last 15 seasons, only one seventh-place finisher has gone on to finish in the top half the following campaign. Meanwhile, in the last seven seasons, only one team that finished seventh has ended the following season higher than 17th.

Middlesbrough were the only side to buck that trend when they finished fourth in the 2022–23 season, but even then, their campaign began poorly. The club sat 21st in mid-October when Chris Wilder was sacked and replaced by Michael Carrick. The new manager implemented a different tactical approach and propelled the team up the table, aided by backing in the January transfer window.

It is still too early to suggest Wrexham will finish in the bottom half this season, although history suggests their difficult start is not entirely surprising.

“I think that there’s obviously a stat of teams who’ve been in the playoffs can find it tough, but you look at Derby, they just missed out as well, how they’ve struggled,” Parkinson told Sports Illustrated.

“Whether that [mental toughness] is a factor or not ... Of course, as much as there was a pride that in our first season in the Championship we’d got to seventh, the highest position the club had ever finished, on the last day of the season there was an opportunity which slipped away from us.

“I don’t want to use that as an excuse. It’s up to us to buck the trend of that. There is probably something in it, but let’s not use that as an excuse; we can use that and say we are the team that kind of changed the stat around.”

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Wrexham Team News vs. Sheffield United

Ben Sheaf has only been able to make two competitive appearances this season. | Wrexham AFC

Wrexham should have midfielder Ben Sheaf available to start against Sheffield United after he returned from injury and came off the bench in the recent defeat to Blackburn Rovers. Max Cleworth and George Thomason could also be included in the matchday squad after their respective injury lay-offs.

Cleworth has missed six matches since suffering a hamstring injury in the home draw with Burnley, while Thomason has been sidelined for 10 games since picking up a thigh injury in Wrexham’s draw with Watford.

“Sheafy has got through the week. He has trained well, he’s made another step in the right direction,” Parkinson said at his pre-match press conference. “Max and Tommo, they weren’t with us on Saturday, but they stayed here [Colliers Park] and trained.

“They have also had good weeks on the training pitch. We have had a good day today. We will assess those two going into the weekend. At the very least, they have strengthened up the numbers as we go into three games in eight days.”

The Red Dragons are still expected to be without Seb Revan, Liberato Cacace, Nathan Broadhead and Josh Windass for their trip to Bramall Lane.

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