Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson pleased as his side hit four

Posted Wednesday, August 16, 2023 by PA

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson hailed his side’s commanding performance in a 4-2 victory over Walsall.

The Hollywood-owned Dragons recorded a first win since their EFL return, banishing a shaky start to life in League Two.

Parkinson felt that his side stood up and singled out the goalscorers, saying: “I thought it was a very good performance from us.

“(I am) disappointed to concede that last-minute goal at the end because the game is never over until it’s over.

“I don’t want that to take the gloss off the performance because I thought we controlled for long periods, the passing was crisp, the movement was good and it was a night where a lot of our key players stood up to the plate.

“Tonight it was important we stood up as a team, as a group and the supporters did that as well and we got our first win of the season.”

“It was a proper man’s performance from Will Boyle and then Ollie (Palmer) an audacious finish. I’m so pleased for Jake Bickerstaff and Elliott (Lee) capped off a performance of high quality.”

Bickerstaff, an academy product, has worked hard to earn his place in the squad according to Parkinson.

“I’ve said all along we’ve got to give players an opportunity if they perform and Jake Bickerstaff performed well against Wigan and in training and deserved the opportunity tonight,” he said.

Walsall could not repeat their win over Stockport and will be disappointed to have conceded so many.

Boss Mat Sadler highlighted his frustration, saying: “I think with the first goal we usually have a shape that we’re good at keeping. We weren’t high enough in the box or tight enough.

“The second goal is one of those moments where a mistake happens, they do happen and you’re hoping to get a little bit of luck. It’s a fantastic finish and then you’re up against it.”

“I thought we showed a lot of resilience in that 40 minutes then to get ourselves back into it.

“But in the key moments, we just fell short. I think it was a foul before the third goal, but we still have an opportunity to deal with that, so it’s frustrating.

“The big thing for me is working together now, we’re back to it, back to the work. They’re a bunch that are invested in what we want to do here.

“We have to work out ways of being on the right side of results, that requires a little bit of nouse and experience so we can learn from tonight.”

Walsall’s goals came from Chris Hussey and Anthony Forde’s own goal.