The Key Issue Wrexham Must Fix to Keep Playoff Dream Alive

The Red Dragons must fix a key problem if they are to finish in the EFL Championship play-offs this season.

Wrexham have the fourth-worst defence in the EFL Championship. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

"Offense wins you games, defense wins you titles.”

Wrexham have not found it too difficult finding the back of the net this season, but the rate at which they have shipped goals at the other end has become a great cause for concern.

The encouraging news is that Wrexham have scored the fifth-highest number of goals (63) in the EFL Championship this season and proved themselves capable of competing against the best teams in the division. The bad news is they’ve not been too clever at the other end.

Bizarrely, they have an almost identical record to that of Hull City, their biggest rivals for the final playoff position and perhaps an indication that whichever team finishes sixth will go into the end-of-season playoffs as a clear underdog to earn promotion to the Premier League.

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Wrexham’s Worrying Defense

Wrexham Defense Stats	2025-26 EFL Championship
Goals conceded	64
Average goals conceded (per match)	1.43
Average expected goals conceded (xG against per match)	1.53
Clean sheets	10

Wrexham have the fourth-worst defense in the EFL Championship this season, with 60 goals conceded. The only teams that have conceded more are Sheffield Wednesday (82), Leicester City (64) and Queens Park Rangers (63). Hull City are another anomaly with the joint-fourth-worst defense.

Coventry City are the league leaders and possess the best joint-best defense in the league (42 conceded), alongside second-place Ipswich Town and fifth-place Middlesbrough. Stoke City have the fourth-best defense despite being in 16th position, while playoff contenders Millwall and Southampton are next on the list. It’s an obvious trend that the teams that concede the fewest goals tend to be in the highest positions.

The fact that one of Wrexham or Hull City will likely finish in the playoff positions this season is evidence that there can be exceptions to any rule, though it is clear evidence that huge improvement is needed from Phil Parkinson’s side this summer.

What will alarm Wrexham the most is that they have conceded 13 goals across their last five matches, the worst record in the division during that period. They also possess the unwanted record of having gone two goals down in five of their last seven matches. They have kept clean sheets in just 10 of their 42 matches this season and concede a goal on average every 63 minutes played.

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Why Have Wrexham Conceded So Many Goals Lately?

Ben Sheaf (L) and Matty James (R) have been a huge absence for Wrexham lately | Photo by Ben Roberts - Danehouse/Getty Images

Wrexham have conceded a steady stream of goals all season, though it certainly felt like they got a grip of things during the midway stage of the campaign. The Red Dragons conceded 19 goals across their opening 14 matches as they adapted to the EFL Championship, but conceded just 16 across their next 14 matches. They have conceded 25 goals in their last 14 matches, five of which came in the heavy home defeat to Southampton last week.

So why has it changed? It seems there are a few factors at play.

The first would be the quality of opposition. Wrexham have faced current playoff sides Southampton, Hull City, Ipswich Town and Millwall during that latest run of matches and conceded 12 goals across those four games.

Another key factor is the general level of fatigue. It has been a grueling season at a much higher level that has included two cup runs. Wrexham have more than held their own in the EFL Championship but it is clear that further reinforcement is needed this summer to challenge higher up the table.

The most important has been injuries. Wrexham only have two specialist defensive midfielders and have been without both of them for a prolonged run of matches. Matty James missed 11 matches before he returned from the bench against Southampton last week and is still working his way to full fitness. Wrexham have only conceded 29 goals when he has been on the pitch this season.

His absence has been exacerbated by injury to Ben Sheaf, who has missed the last 10 matches after medial knee ligament damage. His defensive contribution has been even more impressive, with just 21 goals conceded when he has played this season. Without their defensive quality and leadership, Wrexham have been disjointed at the back and have been easier to pull apart.

Whatever happens across the final four matches of the Championship season, it is clear that Wrexham need to sign another defensive midfielder this summer.

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