‘Credit to them’: Wrexham boss’ verdict as side withstand Portsmouth fightback
Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson gives his reaction to how his Hollywood-backed side had to withstand Pompey’s onslaught at the Racecourse Ground, in the Championship last night.
Phil Parkinson handed Pompey plaudits as their second-half charge came up short at Wrexham.
And the high-profile Welsh side’s boss acknowledged the talent the Blues have in their ranks, as the play-off chasers picked up a 2-1 success last night.
Wrexham boss on Pompey: ‘Credit to them, they came back into it’
Wrexham emerged with three points, as John Mousinho’s stretched squad couldn’t make it a trio of successive wins on the road at the Racecourse Ground.
Pompey looked leggy in the first half in North Wales as they went two goals behind, but somehow found an extra gear after the restart to fight back through Zak Swanson’s 49th-minute effort.
Mousinho’s men pushed for the leveller but couldn’t find the clear openings from their pressure, as they once again showed their character.
Parkinson could see the belief his opponents were playing with after victories at Charlton and Millwall.
The Wrexham boss, who’s been linked with a move for Pompey defender Terry Devlin, also acknowledged the talent in the ranks of Mousinho’s squad.
He told Wrexham’s YouTube channel: ‘You can’t always be at your best.
‘Saturday (a 5-3 win against Ipswich) was a very emotional game and a lot of energy was spent. It can be very hard to follow up, but I felt we did that brilliantly in the first half.
‘Credit to them, they came back into it and they are a team with renewed confidence on their travels, with their win at Millwall and their win at Charlton.
‘They obviously have some good players, so it was important for us to stand strong and take the pressure as a team.
‘We’ve spoken about that if we do come under pressure we have to defend well in the key areas, the wide areas of the pitch, blocking crosses and doubling up in those areas - which I felt we did well.
‘You have to be resolute and strong, we were that and that’s what got us the points.’
Parkinson revealed Wrexham dealt with illness in their ranks going into the game; goalscorer Sam Sam and Wales striker Kieffer Moore were both affected.
That didn’t stop the outfit, owned by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, having much the better of the first half before Pompey rallied.
Phil Parkinson: 'We couldn’t get foothold in the game’
Parkinson added: ‘First half I felt we played really well, second half I thought the deflected goal gave them a lift.
'We couldn’t quite get a foothold in the game and we couldn’t quite get the control we’d had.
‘It got frantic, but football sometimes is about finding a way in different circumstances.
‘We’ve had a bit of illness in the camp over the last few days. Kieffer (Moore) went down ill and Sam (Smith) was ill at half-time.
‘We just had to stand strong as a group and defend their set-plays. Did they have a lot of chances? No, but we had to defend a lot of corners and situations.
‘That’s a huge part of the game - and that’s what saw us through.’