It is three days short(as I write) of 50 years since I saw Queen at Preston Guild Hall, divide that figure by 2 and it is over 25 years since we played Wrexham in a league game 25/3/2000 won 1-0 at Deepdale, we played them 5 times that season. At the time the Welshman were on the slide into the Conference League were they stayed for far too many seasons, bad ownership etc, gates were down to about one and a half thousand. In those days they were one of those clubs that you don't mind. However, that's before they relocated to Hollywood, apparently it's a fairy tale rise through the leagues, does hel when you splurge millions on players and buy your way through the leagues. Fair enough the rise through the leagues has been good for the town especially the pub next to the ground, which must be the only viable pub in Britain. They have had a decent start and will provide stern opposition tomorrow and no doubt the 25ft tall Keifer Moore will score. Played them earlier this season in the league cup lost 3-2 https://www.wrexhamafc.co.uk/ MANAGER Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former midfielder. He is the manager of EFL Championship club Wrexham. Parkinson acquired a Social Science degree early into his career as a manager[3] and is the only manager to take an English fourth-tier league club to the final of a major cup competition at Wembley Stadium, leading Bradford City of League Two to the 2013 League Cup final. During his career, he has achieved promotion six times: with Colchester to the Championship in 2006, with Bradford to League One in 2013, with Bolton Wanderers to the Championship in 2017, and with Wrexham to League Two in 2023, League One in 2024 and the Championship in 2025. Actually a local lad born in Chorley please log in to view this image Picture attributed to Timmy96 WREXHAM FORM GUIDE DWDWD MYSTIC MACS FORM RATING PNE 12 WREXHAM 11 SIGNINGS OF NOTE BROADHURST 8.7 MILLION SHEAF 7.5 MILLION Both signings well above what our record signing GOALS AND ASSISTS MOORE 7 Goals WINDASS 3 Assists PNE TEAM NEWS Paul Heckingbottom confirmed that Harrison Armstrong will be back available for the weekend, and Andrija Vukčević and Brad Potts are also back training with “no restrictions”. For the latter, he’s been unavailable all season long to date and the midfielder, who’s made almost 250 appearances for PNE, has been steadily building up in fitness in training. In Andy’s case, the Montenegrin picked up an injury in the home victory over Sheffield United, and he’s set to return ahead of schedule, perhaps on Saturday when North End take on Wrexham at Deepdale. Hecky Provides Positive Team News UpdatePaul Heckingbottom confirmed that Harrison Armstrong will be back available for the weekend, and Andrija Vukčević and Brad Potts are also back training with “no restrictions”. Hecky said: “He's been back on the training pitch a couple of weeks now. I'd say this last week he’s had no restrictions. We've seen him flying about everywhere. “I think because he's come back a lot sooner than expected, we have been a bit wary and apprehensive. But now he's ticking the boxes, so he's under consideration. We'll use him now. “He needs to be, in my opinion, and this is my intention, introducing him back in a similar way to Pol (Valentín), bit by bit because I think it's the correct way in lots of ways. “It's good for safety and not just throwing them straight back in where you're going to re-injure them. But likewise the best way to get them up to speed is to play them and give them minutes because otherwise you're just training, training, training, then you might get thrown in, then it's a big jump. Pol’s had a good few minutes now and he'd be capable of doing more, and we've got to try and get that with Andy.” The left wing-back was one of 12 summer signings, with Jamal Lewis – who will be sidelined for the weekend – recently adding to that number. This new-look squad have had a great start to the Championship season and sit in the Play-Off places at this early stage. There’s been lots that the manager has been delighted with from his side, including the amount of goals scored at the top end of the pitch. Hecky said: “It was important because last season I felt at times it was hard and frustrating because I felt we had to have so much control and be so dominant to get a win unless one or two things went our way. “Whereas this season I wouldn't say we're having any more control with the ball than we did last season at all. We’re maybe similar without the ball but what we're doing is when we're getting moments we’ve recruited players with certain attributes which help us create which has been important and it's about then trying to make sure that we do create. “We'll do it our way. I'm not bothered about being top of the stats, I'm bothered about creating those moments which win us games. That's it. And we've been able to do that.”
Team News please log in to view this image There’s positive news on the injury front as Harrison Armstrong is back in contention, while Andrija Vukčević is also back ready to be called upon. Long-term absentee Brad Potts is constantly making strides forwards and could soon be back in contention. Meanwhile, Ali McCann is being kept away from contact training due to his broken arm, however he’s getting involved in ball work where possible. After being forced off last weekend due to a hamstring issue, Jamal Lewis has joined the rest of the injured pack, which consists of Lewis Gibson, Robbie Brady and Theo Carroll. The Visitors please log in to view this image Wrexham head to Deepdale as one of the division’s form teams, having not been defeated in the league since October, going their last eight matches unbeaten. In that run of fixtures, the newly-promoted outfit have conceded just four goals and no Championship team has a better defensive record away from home this season. At the other end, Kieffer Moore has been their main source of goals with seven, and he’s bagged four times against PNE in his career. Match Officials please log in to view this image Referee: Lewis Smith Assistant Referees: Alex James and Richard West Fourth Official: Sebastian Stockbridge Lewis Smith will take charge of his third PNE match of the season on Saturday. The referee, who previously officiated the away win over Derby County and home defeat to Birmingham City, has shown 38 yellow cards in 11 matches this campaign.
