Tranmere defeat not ‘season-defining’, insists Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson

Phil Parkinson insisted Wrexham’s 1-0 home loss to Tranmere was not a “season-defining defeat” and they remain in a good position in the League Two promotion race.

Luke Norris took advantage of Andy Cannon’s error early on at the Racecourse Ground to seal victory for Rovers and inflict Wrexham’s third home loss of the campaign.

The Dragons remain in the top three with eight games left, but Parkinson revealed his frustration that one moment cost his side and they lacked the composure in the final third to capitalise on their dominance.

He said: “It’s very frustrating. We dominated the first half in particular and one moment has cost us. They took a quick free-kick, ended up one-v-one at the back and (we) got punished for that.

“But we’ve still had so much play, particularly in the first half, to have got back in the game and I think the balance about playing at an intensity and speeding the game up, it was probably at times a bit frantic with our decision-making.

“Clarity in those decisions in the final third wasn’t where it needed to be to make the most of our dominance, because we practically pinned them in the whole 45 minutes but we couldn’t get the goal back in the first half.

“We didn’t get the control in the second half like we did in the first period and we’ve got to look at that.

“It’s not a season-defining defeat. We’re in a strong position and we’ve got to dust ourselves down and get ready to go again.”

Tranmere now have three wins in four games and Nigel Adkins praised the grit his side showed against a team he feels will be promoted.

He said: “It’s a good finish and we knew we’d get an opportunity. After that it’s fair to say we had to go and fix bayonets, they were in the ascendancy and we couldn’t keep the football.

“We passed the ball a lot better in the second half. They made five substitutions, they were a land of giants, we knew they would be, set-pieces were always going to be a threat, but the lads defended them ever so well and we kept the clean sheet.

“We’ve shown another dynamic to us as a team, that grit, resilience, togetherness of everybody sticking together and finding a way to go and win.

“The way the lads defended as a team and put some thunderous tackles in and blocks and the desire to keep the ball out of the back of the net is something for us to build on.

“Wrexham are going to get promoted and we’ve had to come away from home on an exceptional pitch and we’ve come away with three points.”