WREXHAM, Wales — Wrexham were in a bit of a no-win situation against Preston North End. It is a huge credit to manager Phil Parkinson that their 4–1 victory still felt so euphoric.
A win would come with the caveat that it was against the team at the bottom of the EFL Championship, while a failure to win would only have intensified the scrutiny around Parkinson's side after two matches without a win.
Wrexham somehow avoided both scenarios, though, securing their first win by a three-goal margin on home soil since they earned promotion to the Championship with a 3–0 victory over Charlton Athletic back in April 2025.
It was far from a perfect performance, but it offered enough positives to show why the board remains firmly behind Parkinson. Wrexham scored four goals, picked up another three points, played with two strikers and conceded just once. If there was ever a time for a confidence boost, this was it. There is no ignoring, though, that tougher tests are waiting just around the corner.
Wrexham Secure Important Win
After a similarly slow start a year ago, Wrexham surged up the table with a run of four wins in nine matches, establishing themselves as playoff contenders. They will hope to repeat that feat this season, but they are also aware that they will earn little praise for beating a Preston side that has won just once all season.
The Red Dragons made four changes from their midweek defeat to West Brom, bringing Joe Worrall, Danny Imray, Matty James and Sam Smith into the starting lineup. Preston were just as desperate for a win and came flying out of the blocks, forcing Wrexham to clear a cross off the line before seeing a header flash wide within the opening two minutes.
Wrexham were unconvincing defensively throughout the afternoon, but the visitors were even worse. Callum O'Hare and Smith both tested Preston goalkeeper Daniel Iversen with decent efforts before the deadlock was finally broken after half an hour.
Preston dealt with the initial corner, but Wrexham made the most of the second phase as Worrall headed home his first goal since joining the club in the summer. Fellow summer signing Imray provided an excellent cross for the defender to finish. The goal extended Preston's unwanted run without a clean sheet to 27 games, with their last shutout coming 252 days earlier.
Wrexham hoped to build on that solid foundation, but they were pegged back just five minutes later. Moore was guilty of a slack pass inside his own half, which Johnny Kenny pounced on. His deflected shot fell into the path of Alfie Devine, who fired home at the back post.
Devine signed permanently for Preston in the summer, partly because he was convinced to join by former club captain Whiteman. Just weeks later, Whiteman signed for Wrexham instead, much to the frustration of the Preston supporters who made the trip to the Racecourse Ground.
It was fitting, then, that Whiteman restored Wrexham's lead three minutes before halftime. His driven effort took a deflection off a defender before finding the inside of the post. He celebrated his first Wrexham goal by blowing the Preston supporters a kiss.
Wrexham struck again just before the hour mark when Smith headed one home from close range, and before Preston could regroup, the hosts added a fourth. Worrall turned the ball over the line after a driven free kick from Callum Doyle. The 29-year-old had not scored since netting a last-minute winner for Besiktas in May 2024. Now he has two goals in a Wrexham shirt—unless Moore manages to claim the latest one as his own.
Parkinson's substitutions were jeered in the closing stages of Tuesday's defeat to West Brom, but there were no complaints this time when Moore, James and O'Hare were given a rare rest in the final minutes, with victory already secured.
In a week when Wrexham were sensationally linked with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard as a potential future manager, Parkinson made sure the pressure did not get to him. His side delivered another win when it mattered most.
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