Wrexham

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Craig Knight has returned to Wrexham to take up the role of professional development phase lead coach with the Championship club from north Wales.

Uefa pro licence holder Knight spent a decade with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) but started his playing career in Wrexham's academy.

He went on to land a youth coaching role with the Red Dragons before joining the FAW in 2015.

Wrexham say Knight will now be responsible for "leading the training and games programme for our under-18 side and helping the transition of academy players into the first team".

Newly-appointed academy manager Gus Williams said: "The tremendous addition of an accomplished coach like Craig Knight demonstrates the serious intent the club and academy have in moving our ambitions forward.

"As a highly-experienced pro licensed coach who qualified for the U17 Uefa Euro finals back-to-back with Cymru, it's fantastic to welcome Craig back home to the Stok Cae Ras."

Knight said: "Wrexham has always been a special place to me having been a fan and a player.

"It has been fantastic to see the team's journey in recent years and the effect it has had locally and beyond.

"I believe that there are even greater things to come and it's a privilege to be back here at this pivotal moment for the club and the academy."

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Waynne Phillips believes Wrexham's start in their 2-0 victory over Bristol City was as well as the club have played from the outset of a match this season.

The Red Dragons enjoyed plenty of possession early on and took the lead in spectacular fashion as Nathan Broadhead curled beyond Radek Vitek in the 16th minute.

The Robins had an improved spell late on in the opening half at the Stok Cae Ras, although the game was put beyond them when goalkeeper Vitek inadvertently turned George Thomason's corner into his own net on 74 minutes.

And ex-Wrexham midfielder Phillips believes his former club were fully worth the three points against Gerhard Struber's outfit.

"I think they deserved the victory against Bristol City," Phillips told BBC Radio Cymru.

"The first half, especially the first 36 minutes, was very good, as good as we've seen here this season.

"When you aren't conceding goals, you've always got a great chance of going on to win matches.

"Everyone's leaving the Stok Cae Ras very happy once again."

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Matty James feels his previous club Bristol City are close to achieving something special as he prepares to be reunited with the Robins.

The midfielder will line up against his former employers when Wrexham host Gerhard Struber's side at the Stok Cae Ras tonight (19:45 GMT).

The Robins sit sixth in the table and are seeking to improve on their achievement of reaching the play-offs last season.

When asked if Bristol City are on the cusp of something special, James said: "Yeah, I think so.

"I think the city's kind of ready, they've got a really good training ground, they've expanded the stadium, they're packing it out every week and they've invested into some good, talented players.

"They've built over the last couple of years, so I think that's probably going to be their aim (promotion) as well.

"So they're not going to come here and be pushed over. They're going to come here for a battle and obviously we'll make sure that we're ready."

Wrexham have won three successive home league matches and are unbeaten in six league outings, sitting 15th in the table ahead of their contest with Bristol City.

Following a slow start to the season at the Stok Cae Ras, James feels Wrexham are making their home ground a tough place to visit again.

"I think everybody was desperate for that first home win at the start and I think we probably deserved more out of a couple of the games, but I think now hopefully we can make this place a really difficult place for teams to come," he added.

"It's going to be a difficult game again, but hopefully we can come up with the three points."

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Phil Parkinson says he "can't wait" for Wrexham's home double header this week on the back of their draw with Ipswich Town last time out.

The Red Dragons extended their unbeaten Championship run to six matches thanks to the stalemate at Portman Road.

They return to action against Bristol City at Stok Cae Ras on Wednesday night (19:45 GMT) before hosting Blackburn Rovers in north Wales three days later.

Having failed to win any of their opening five home league games of the season, Wrexham go into the contest against the Robins having won three in a row in the Championship on their own patch.

"I can't wait. The last game against Charlton, the atmosphere was brilliant. As I said after the game, that's key for us here," said the Wrexham boss.

"There's a reason that this place has been difficult for the opposition to play and our lads have loved playing here. We've got to really crank the atmosphere up tomorrow."

Despite sitting 14th in the table, Wrexham are just three points adrift of the play-off places and Parkinson feels the league is wide open this term.

"I think the division is so tight, isn't it?" he said. "I think everybody in every interview is saying the same.

"Coventry have pulled away at the top and there's Sheffield Wednesday with the points deduction at the bottom, but the rest of the division is very tight and that's what makes it such a great spectacle.

"The games are very competitive, no quarter given at all, and everybody can beat anyone on the day.

"It's a great week for us. It started off well at Ipswich.

"I was pleased with physically how we looked coming on the back of the international break, and now we look to build on that tomorrow."

Wrexham will look to continue their undefeated run as they host Bristol City on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

The Red Dragons have not conceded defeat in any of their past six league games to see them within three points of the play-off spots.

However, they next face a tough opponent in Bristol City, who ended a three game winless run on the weekend to lift themselves into fourth place on the table.

• Wrexham are winless in their last 11 league games against Bristol City (D2 L9), with this the first meeting between the sides since April 2005.

• Bristol City failed to win any of their first seven away league games against Wrexham between 1962 and 1997 (D2 L5) but won four of their five visits between 2000 and 2004 (D1).

• Having been winless in their first five home league games this season (D3 L2), Wrexham have now won each of their last three at STōK Cae Ras.

• Bristol City have lost just one of their seven away league games this season (W3 D3), with that 5-1 defeat at Stoke responsible for 63% of their away goals conceded this term (5/8).

• Wrexham's Kieffer Moore has been involved in seven goals in his last seven home league games, scoring six and assisting one.

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Phil Parkinson says Arthur Okonkwo is at the "top of his game" after the goalkeeper played a pivotal role in earning Wrexham a point at Ipswich Town.

The 24-year-old produced a number of key saves at Portman Road - most notably to deny Chuba Akpom - as the Red Dragons held the Tractor Boys to a goalless draw.

It was the goalkeeper's third successive clean sheet - which saw Wrexham extend their unbeaten Championship run to six matches.

"Arthur's a goalkeeper who is right at the top of his game," Parkinson said.

"The players in front of him I thought were really good today.

"I think it's great for Arthur because we've spoken about bringing a lot of players in this season, which we have.

"Arthur has grown into the division and he's getting more and more confident by the week.

"It's very rewarding for all of the staff to see a player who has been up through the divisions who is now performing so well, like Max [Cleworth], at Championship level."

Wrexham failed to register a single short on target against Ipswich and had just four touches of the ball in the Ipswich box.

But Parkinson was thrilled with his side's defensive showing against a side that competed in the Premier League last season.

"It's a great effort from the lads," added the Wrexham manager.

"These are a team who have really got themselves going recently. They've got £100m of talent out there.

"We've come here today with a few injury problems, but we haven't used it as an excuse.

"We've worked really hard on the training ground to make sure you wouldn't notice, we came here with a few key players missing.

"The way we stuck to our job in terms of the discipline, the shape of the team and the general work ethic was really good today.

"A point away at Portman Road is one to be proud of."

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Phil Parkinson feels Ipswich Town are among the favourites to challenge for promotion this season as Wrexham return to Championship action against the Tractor Boys this afternoon (15:00 GMT).

Kieran McKenna's side go into the match at Portman Road having claimed 10 points from the last 12 on offer prior to the international break to sit two points above Wrexham.

But the Red Dragons head to Suffolk unbeaten in five league outings, with Parkinson stating his side travel to Ipswich buoyed by their own recent run.

"They're carrying a lot of Premier League standard players," the Wrexham manager told BBC Sport Wales.

"They're a good team, they've changed the squad around to a certain degree in the summer and of course they're one of the favourites to be up there.

"But we're on a good run ourselves and we go down there very confident and look forward to the challenge which Ipswich present."

Following a hectic run of seven matches in 22 days, Wrexham utilised the final international break of 2025 to get as many players as close to peak condition as possible.

And while Parkinson has been pleased with his side's improvement since the start of the campaign, the 57-year-old stated his team can still get better.

"It (international break) gave us a good opportunity as a staff to go back over the games we've had and look at all aspects of the team," added Parkinson.

"You're constantly working as a management team because you're always thinking 'how do we keep improving?'.

"It's given us a good chance to reflect and keep building on what we've done.

"We know there's a lot of work to be done in terms of improvement in the side, individually and collectively, but I feel we're getting to where we need to be."

If you're wondering where your team is going to finish in the Championship this season, you no longer need to worry.

Well, kind of.

Opta's supercomputer has worked its magic to figure out the most likely final league position of every team - and the chances each has of being promoted, making the play-offs or getting relegated.

Who is most likely to win automatic promotion?

It will come as no surprise that leaders Coventry are heavy favourites for the title (69.3%) and also have the highest chance of automatic promotion (84.2%) to the Premier League.

The next most likely to go straight up, with a 30.8% chance, are Middlesbrough. Despite currently sitting seventh and six points behind Boro in second, Ipswich are expected to be the third favourites for a top two finish (18.9%) followed by Stoke (14.1%).

Even though they've each enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, Preston (10.3%), Hull (6.1%) and Millwall (8.3%) have slimmer chances of finishing in an automatic promotion spot.

Who will make the play-offs?

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Even if Coventry don't win automatic promotion, Opta's supercomputer has given the Sky Blues a 97.9% chance of a top-six finish, suggesting it's almost guaranteed.

Each of Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Preston and Stoke are expected to finish in a minimum of a play-off position at least one in two times.

Hull might feel the hardest done by as they sit fifth currently, but are said to have less chance (32.3%) than Millwall (38.8%) and Charton (32.4%), who are below them in the table.

The most likely of the chasing pack to make a surge up the table are 12th-placed Leicester City, who have been given a 31.8% chance of finishing in the top six and are more likely than Bristol City (28.9%), Derby (22.9%) and Birmingham (19.9%).

Last season's beaten play-off finalists Sheffield United have just a 1.8% chance of recovering their season to make the play-offs again, while relegated Premier League side Southampton (12.5%) aren't likely to either... if you trust the supercomputer!

Who is going down?

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It's probably not hard to work out who is most likely to finish bottom and be relegated to League One.

Sheffield Wednesday's 12-point deduction, which has left them 17 points adrift of safety on -4 points, means they're pretty much nailed on to finish bottom (84.8%) - and failing that, are almost certain to go down (98.2%).

Second from bottom Norwich are the next most likely candidates to fall through the trap door (58.5%) but Sheffield United, who currently occupy the final relegation spot, have just a 22.4% chance of going down and are considered more likely to stay up than Oxford (37.8%) and Portsmouth (31.3%).

History will be made when Ipswich Town host Wrexham on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The two have never met in the English Football League and will be competing to try and draw first blood at Portman Road.

For the Tractor Boys, an even bigger prize is on offer, as a win could see them enter the top six and extend their undefeated run to a fifth league game.

• This is the first ever league meeting between Ipswich and Wrexham. Their only previous encounter was in the FA Cup third round in 1994-95 when the Red Dragons won 2-1 under Brian Flynn.

• Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has won his last two league games against Ipswich, beating them twice during 2020 when he was Sunderland boss in League One.

• Ipswich Town have won four of their last six home league matches (D1 L1) and have lost one of their last 29 at Portman Road in the Championship (W19 D9), losing to newly promoted Charlton last month

• From MD6 onwards this season, no side have lost fewer Championship matches than Wrexham (1), with the Red Dragons unbeaten in five (W3 D2) since a 1-0 loss to Stoke in October.

• No player has scored more home Championship goals this season than Ipswich's Jaden Philogene (6). He's had a hand in 15 goals in his last 23 home appearances across spells with Hull and the Tractor Boys (12 goals, 3 assists).

Image source, Rex Features

George Dobson feels extra work on the training ground has brought maximum rewards as he has been a first-team regular in the Championship with Wrexham this season.

The midfielder is getting used to life in the second tier having spent each of the past nine seasons in League One.

Despite a major squad overhaul during the summer transfer window, Dobson - who moved to the Stok Cae Ras in the summer of 2024 - has remained an integral figure under Phil Parkinson.

He is one of only four players - alongside Kieffer Moore, Max Cleworth and Matty James - to feature in all 15 of his side's league games so far this term.

The 27-year-old has repaid the faith shown in him by the club's coaching staff with a string of impressive displays.

His total of 43 tackles made is the most of any player in the division while only four players in the league have bettered Dobson's tally of 65 ground duels won.

Reflecting on his ability to make the step up to Championship level following the 1-0 victory over his former club Charlton Athletic last weekend, Dobson said: "I'm delighted. I knew it was going to be tough coming up, with the amount of quality players that we've brought in.

"I've just tried to work hard and do extras with people at the club to try and prove that I'm worthy of my place in the team and in the squad.

"Every time I get the opportunity, it's just about trying to prove that. I'm just going to continue to try and do that every time I get the chance."

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George Dobson feels Wrexham are showing signs of "being a good team" after extending their unbeaten Championship run to five matches prior to the international break.

Phil Parkinson's men beat Dobson's former club Charlton Athletic 1-0 last time out to make it three league wins from three at the Stok Cae Ras.

The 27-year-old feels the club have adapted well to life in the Championship after a slow start to their campaign.

"It was always going to be a little bit tough with having 13 new players, then adjusting to the three stands (at Stok Cae Ras)," said the midfielder.

"There's a lot of factors where it was probably always going to take five or six games to find our feet.

"But that stat (losing just one of the last 10 matches) shows we're really starting to build and showing signs of being a good team."

Josh Windass came off the bench to score the decisive goal from the penalty spot against Charlton.

It was the summer signing's fifth goal of the season, and his first on home soil since joining Wrexham.

Dobson lauded the impact of Windass since the 31-year-old made the switch to north Wales.

"He's just got so much quality. He was actually saying the other day that he doesn't normally score many at home," added Dobson.

"I said 'you'll have to change that on Saturday'. To then score the winner, it's a nice touch.

"I'm delighted for him to come on and change the game. He was brilliant when he came on."