Sport

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson laments his side’s lack of quality

24 Oct 2026 3 minute read

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson. Credit: Cody Froggatt/PA Wire.

Press Association Sport Staff

Manager Phil Parkinson credited Blackburn’s defending but lamented his side’s inability to “produce the quality” needed in their 2-0 defeat at Ewood Park.

He said: “Difficult conditions for both sides. We were against it a bit in terms of elements first half.

“Obviously conceding just before the break was a setback but we still felt at half-time the game was there for us. But we couldn’t produce the quality we needed.

“We’ve had 23 attempts but to only have one of those on target, we have to look at that.

“I’ve got to give Blackburn defenders credit because they blocked things, made 9-10 blocks. They defended crosses, they defended set plays. It was a combination of their good defending, but we couldn’t find that clinical moment to get us back in the game and the game was separated on two moments.

“When we analyse the positions we got into, we got in enough good positions to have got something from the game but we just didn’t produce the quality.”

Tony Mowbray tipped Andri Gudjohnsen for a “wonderful career” after his brace secured Blackburn an impressive win.

Gudjohnsen has hit the ground running this season and his second consecutive two-goal haul made it three successive wins at Ewood Park for Rovers.

Both goals demonstrated the Icelandic forward’s ruthless nature in front of the net as he swept in the first on the bounce a minute before the break when reacting quickest to Sam Morsy’s parried drive.

And he made the game safe late in the second half, easing away from his marker before powering into the top corner from 12 yards.

Blackburn Rovers’ Hayden Carter has a shot on goal during the Sky Bet Championship match at Ewood Park, Blackburn. Credit: Nigel French/Press Association

It is now five goals in four games since returning from injury and Mowbray believes his leading marksman has everything a manager would want from a striker.

He said: “Andri has started his career pretty well, I think, and it goes where it goes, hopefully with us trying to fire the goals for a season or two.

“People tell me he was scoring a lot of goals at the start of the last season and then he picked up an injury. So he’s obviously very, very talented.

“He’s got good movement, he strikes a brilliant ball, he’s very physical and competitive. He’s got all the attributes.

“I’ve just talked about humility in the dressing room and as long as he carries that with him everywhere, he’s got a great chance to have a wonderful career.

“He’s a great kid, nice lad, doesn’t get carried away with anything. I can feel the steadiness of him, he’s just scored quite a lot of goals, even before today. And there’s no overconfident guy. He just gets on with his job. He’s very humble and I like him a lot.”

Gudjohnsen displayed the quality missing from Wrexham’s performance. Despite registering 23 shots, they only manged one on target and they sit 17th after a second defeat in three.

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