Wrexham’s talisman was benched for the second time this season. The team’s automatic play-off campaign resumed with a late win against bottom club Sutton United on Tuesday evening.
It ended a run of three consecutive defeats in League Two, which had dropped them to fourth place, but they are still within touching distance of the automatic spots with games in hand over the teams ahead of them.
Phil Parkinson’s bet paid off against Sutton United.
With the clock ticking down into the latter stages of the game on Tuesday evening, Wrexham found themselves in a position all too similar to them in recent weeks.
The Red Dragons had scored just twice in their last three encounters in the league, and would normally turn to their talisman Paul Mullin to smash one into the back of the net. But, the 29-year-old found himself on the bench for the trip to the VBS Community Stadium.
It was Steven Fletcher and January arrival Jack Marriott who were given the nod in south London, with both heroes from last season in Mullin and Ollie Palmer forced to watch from the bench until they were substituted on in the 72nd minute.
Sutton improved after the break following Will Boyle’s opener in first-half stoppage time, but top scorer Elliott Lee popped up with five minutes to go, squeezing the ball in at the near post for his 14th goal of the season.
While it was a risk not to start Mullin from the off, it proved to be a gamble worth taking as his influence from the bench proved pivotal in creating the winning goal. A player of his experience and quality, however, will want to be featured from the beginning.
Paul Mullin’s Wrexham statistics
Mullin’s transfer to the Racecourse Ground raised a few eyebrows, having just enjoyed a prolific season with Cambridge United in League Two, scoring 34 goals in all competitions.
But, his move to Wrexham coincided with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s acquisition of the club back in 2020, with their new Hollywood owners tempting the 29-year-old to aid their promotion aspirations and return to the Football League.
Ben Tozer and Ollie Palmer would also join during that season, and have since become legends in north Wales.
Mullin has become a club legend in his three years with the club, with 38 goals last season ending Wrexham’s 15-year absence from the Football League, and he has an incredible 86 goals in 117 games across all competitions.
An critical decision to make before of the Notts County reunion.
This weekend, Wrexham will welcome Notts County back to the Racecourse Ground for the first time since their epic National League clash.
It was on this pitch nearly ten months ago that the Welsh side won the title, with Ben Foster saving Cedwyn Scott’s penalty in the final moments of a thrilling match.
The two sides will reconnect, with Stuart Maynard picking up his first win as Magpies manager with a 3-1 victory over Wrexham’s Welsh rivals Newport County, and Parkinson’s side ending a three-game losing streak away at Sutton United.
It forces the Wrexham boss to make a difficult decision on Mullin, and he may opt to stick with the same team that broke their current losing skid.
The striker has not scored in his last four games, but there appears to be no better time to return to the goals than this weekend.
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