Phil Parkinson praises Wrexham’s ‘immense’ character after win at Burton

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson hailed his side’s “immense” character as a 1-0 win at Burton took them level on points at the top of League One.

Elliot Lee’s fortuitous winner direct from a corner which caught on the wind and went in off a post settled a match in which the conditions caused all sorts of problems.

The win was Wrexham’s fourth in a row and took them level on points with league leaders Wycombe.

“It’s a really good day and I am so pleased because the conditions change the dynamic of the game,” Parkinson said.

“We looked like a team who knew what they needed to do both in terms of preparations, but also the difficult conditions and I thought we handled it really well.

“The character of the players was immense. Winning games of football is so hard and we said at half-time that we needed to push ourselves and every man jack did today.

“All in all, the conditions were a huge leveller, around the country I am sure there will be some strange results today because of it, but every three points is crucial and you have to be able to win in all sorts of conditions.”

On match-winner Elliot, Parkinson added: “I thought Ell was brilliant today. So pleased for him. He works tirelessly for the team and I am pleased for him to get the headlines.”

Strugglers Burton pushed Wrexham all the way and interim head coach Tom Hounsell felt his side were unlucky to be on the end of such a goal.

“Sometimes in these types of games and these conditions you need a little bit of luck and you are playing off moments and the nature of their goal was that all over,” he said.

“I don’t think either side had anything that was clear cut, but I can’t fault the players’ effort in horrible conditions out there and I thought they were phenomenal again after a big performance in midweek (a 1-0 win at Peterborough).”

“Disappointed for the players because I think they deserved something out of the game today.

“It was difficult in the conditions and against a side like Wrexham who are very direct. The wind caused havoc, but I thought we dealt with their threat well.

“If I am being a little bit critical I thought we could have used the conditions a bit better ourselves in the first half, but maybe that is a slight reflection of the guile we might need in the side right now, but I thought we defended well, apart from a freak goal.”