Wrexham urged to prove they are 'pride of Wales'

Phil Parkinson has urged Wrexham to prove they are the best team in Wales in Friday's Championship meeting with Swansea City.

Wrexham head south as the highest-placed Welsh club in the EFL, with Parkinson's men five points and four league positions better off than Swansea in the Championship.

It is unfamiliar territory for Wrexham, who were playing in the National League only two-and-a-half years ago and have not finished a season as Wales' top-ranked side since 2001.

The Red Dragons will look to cement their place as the country's leading club by winning their first league encounter with Swansea in 22 years.

"We know what it means to everybody, all our supporters, and to be the pride of Wales is very, very important," Parkinson said.

"We're going to go all out to achieve that."

Swansea's fiercest rivals – by a distance - are Cardiff City, while Wrexham's chief rivalries have traditionally been with Chester and Shrewsbury Town.

But Parkinson is anticipating "a real fiery Welsh derby" at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Wrexham are back in the same division as the Swans courtesy of three straight promotions, with the south Wales club in their eighth successive Championship season following a seven-year spell in the Premier League which ended in 2018.

"You look at the contrasting fortunes of both clubs in those [past] 20 years, and obviously we had that 15-year block in the National League," Parkinson said.

"But now we find ourselves in the same league as them and it's a real mouthwatering kind of game for everybody, hence it's captured a lot of attention.

"To be now finding ourselves where we are… of course we are [proud]. We know that it counts for so much and we can take satisfaction from that, but it's about the 90 minutes down at Swansea on Friday and proving that [we are the top Welsh side]."

Wrexham are 15th in the second tier having lost only one of their past 11 league matches, while Swansea's defeat at Stoke last weekend was the sixth in their past eight fixtures.

Parkinson, whose team would climb to within three points of the play-offs with a win at Swansea, says their opponents are one of the clubs Wrexham are looking to emulate.

"I think there's another example over the past few years," he said.

"When we have spoken about possibly getting to the Premier League one day and people think, 'oh Wrexham are getting carried away themselves'… it's been achieved by clubs like Swansea and Luton and many other clubs.

"Everything's achievable in football and Swansea have shown that - they've done really well."