Phil Parkinson hails ‘brilliant’ Steven Fletcher after netting late Wrexham winner

Phil Parkinson sung Steven Fletcher’s praises after the striker netted another Wrexham winner in the 1-0 victory over Peterborough in the Dragons boss’ 1,000th game in football management.

Fletcher came off the bench to score for the fourth time this campaign to separate the sides in a tight encounter at the Racecourse Ground.

Parkinson – watched by his family as he notched his milestone in the dugout – believes Fletcher’s moment of quality by nodding home Ollie Rathbone’s cross could not have been scored by many others in League One.

He said: “I thought the structure of the team out of possession was very good and we limited a team with a lot of attacking talents to nothing.

“The moment came for us with a brilliant cross from Ollie Rathbone and a great goal from Fletch.

“What can you say about him [Fletcher] apart from he’s not just a good player, he’s a good lad as well.

“He’s a great team person, squad member, a great influence around the boys when he’s injured or when he’s playing or when he’s training.

“He’s just brilliant and it’s great for him as well because obviously he’s hopefully got time left in his career but at his age, his career is coming to that stage and to get special moments like that is incredible.

“I’ve just got to stop him sprinting off and celebrating and using his energy up! It’s a brilliant cross and there’s not many players at this level that would have scored that goal.”

Watch: Wrexham snatch late winner against Peterborough

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson felt for his players and didn’t think they deserved to taste defeat.

He said: “The most important thing is the result and we’re bitterly disappointed we’ve lost the game.

“I didn’t think there was anything in it really to be honest. We went toe-to-toe with them, competed really well with them because they’re a powerful team.

“Unfortunately, I’ve seen it many times here – Wrexham found a way again of getting a late goal and they’re very good at it.

“I was pleased generally with the performance because we knew if we didn’t compete better than we have in some games, it was going to be a long afternoon.

“It is where we are at the moment unfortunately. A game we didn’t deserve to lose and we have done.

“I’ve seen enough in the performance of my players and they didn’t deserve that.

“I feel for them because they’ve had a right go against a very good team in how they play and how they do it with an unbelievable home record. We come away very disappointed to lose the game.”