Phil Parkinson hails Wrexham’s quality after stoppage-time win over Crawley

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson praised two moments of quality after his promotion-chasing side struck in stoppage time to clinch their first win in four games with a 2-1 victory at Crawley.
The Red Dragons made the perfect start when midfielder Matty James fired them ahead after only 62 seconds.
The goal looked to be enough to give them maximum points until Bradley Ibrahim let fly from 30 yards to score with a beauty into the top right-hand corner in the 90th minute.
But Wrexham were not done and, after substitute Steven Fletcher headed a great chance over, fellow replacement Elliot Lee stole in to head the winner at the far post in the fifth and final minute of added time.
Parkinson said: “It’s about moments of quality to win you games and you saw them with both of our goals.
“It was a scrap but I never really felt they worked our goal that much.
“As for the Crawley goal, the lad won’t hit another goal like that in his career.
“But fortunately for us, the magic man (Lee) got us the winner.”
Wrexham are four points behind second-placed Wycombe and Parkinson said it was all about integrating his new arrivals into the team after he gave record signing Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez immediate debuts.
He added: “We felt we wanted both the lads in the team and now we need to integrate them.
“It is now about fitting them into the framework of the team.”
Watch: Elliot Lee nets stoppage time winner for Wrexham at Crawley
Watch: Elliot Lee nets stoppage-time winner for Wrexham at Crawley
Third-bottom Crawley are now four points from safety and boss Rob Elliot had no doubt that the winning goal from Lee should not have stood, owing to him pulling down Jeremy Kelly.
He said: “It looks like a foul for the winning goal. It’s ridiculous. It’s a poor goal after such an excellent performance.
“Kelly gets pulled to the floor – it’s not even an argument.
“But I’ve been in to see the referee and he just says ‘I’ve not seen any foul’. Which I’m afraid is unacceptable.”
Wrexham paid a club-record fee for Smith, alongside Rodriguez’s arrival, and Elliot added: “They have brought in two experienced strikers but I think we outplayed them.
“I just feel so much for the fans, the lads and the club – it’s tough to take.
“It’s a pity because, apart from a slight wobble over Christmas, we have come so far as a team.”
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