Phil Parkinson hails Wrexham character after battling win at Crawley

Posted Sunday, October 08, 2023 by PA

Manager Phil Parkinson was full of praise for the way his Wrexham side battled with 10 men after a first-half goal from striker Ollie Palmer gave them a 1-0 victory at Crawley.

Wrexham came back three times after having a player sent off to clinch a 3-3 draw at Crewe a fortnight ago and the Red Dragons held firm for the last 24 minutes at the Broadfield Stadium with a man down to move above Crawley and into the top seven.

Palmer’s 13th-minute goal against his former club proved decisive and Parkinson was delighted with the way his men dug in after substitute Andy Cannon received a straight red card for bringing down Adam Campbell only seven minutes after coming on.

Parkinson said: “It was a huge win and there is a great togetherness about this group.

“You need to be resilient and in adversity the lads really dug deep and it was a great three points.”

Parkinson was critical of referee Ollie Yates as he had no doubt Cannon’s challenge on Campbell did not warrant a sending off.

He admitted: “The referee changed his mind after the lad rolled on the floor very theatrically.

“But back-to-back clean sheets and four points from our last two games is a very good return.

“Crawley had possession around our box but didn’t really cut us open.”

Crawley manager Scott Lindsey felt his men paid a heavy price for Danilo Orsi’s first-half miss but was “proud” of his players for the way they performed against “a really strong Wrexham side”.

He said: “I thought we did enough to win the game. I’m frustrated because we have players on the pitch who are capable of scoring.

“Wrexham scored a goal out of nothing and then put men behind the ball and banked in. We didn’t have enough guile in the final third.”

Crawley have suffered back-to-back defeats after a six-match unbeaten run and Lindsey said this must not detract from their best start since promotion to the EFL in 2011.

He added: “We want to own the football; we created more chances in the first half but probably not enough after that with the possession we had.

“Most teams will give us respect. This is high-flying Wrexham who were record-breaking in the National League last season but little old Crawley dominated the game and I’m really proud of my team.”