Joe Worrall believes that Wrexham must be “very consistent” if want to challenge for promotion.
A difficult start to the season has seen Wrexham collect just 18 points in 15 league matches, which has left them sat 15th and six points adrift of the last play-off spot although they beat Middlesbrough and held Wolves in their last two matches.
“If you’d have said four points from games against the top two teams in the Championship at this current time, I’d be very happy,” admitted Worrall to wrexhamafc.co.uk as he reflected on their recent improvement after a slow start to their campaign but iterated consistency is key.
“All over the pitch we were a credit to the Club and to how we want to push teams this season. We’re lower down in the table; we haven’t picked up as many points as we would have liked to at this stage of the season.
“You look at the last two games, they’ve been different. It’s got to be very consistent, and you have to know your game; you can’t be changing too much.”
Worrall proceeded to praise Phil Parkinson for keeping his vision simple and clear and is keen to see the manager correct their weaknesses once the season resumes.
“One of the manager’s strengths, in my opinion, is simplicity. He makes it clear what he wants and how he wants his team to look and set up. In any phase of the game, we know what we’re doing, and I think that’s been evident in the pressure we’ve put on two teams who are at the top of the table.
“We’ll make sure we look to see what we’ve done well over the break and where we’ve been short. We’ll tick those things off on the training pitch when we come back after a bit of a break.”
Acknowledging the fact that Wrexham are not where they had hoped to be after they finished seventh last season, Worrall feels that they have underperformed but is confident that their recent performances is a marker for them to strive for further improvements.
“I think we’re probably a bit behind where we want to be. The expectation on the Club is very high, with a lot of noise around the Club.
“But also, if you show people what we have in the last couple of games, how we’ve set up and how each player has been on the ball, and in battles and duels, we’ve been excellent.
“You’re only as good as your last game, and that’s something I’ve always tried to stick to. You can’t get carried away when getting a result; you’ve got to just concentrate on yourselves and come to the next game, take the positives from the last two games.”
Worrall is no stranger to promotion success after he helped Nottingham Forest achieve promotion in the 2021-22 season via the play-offs, and is relishing the chance to utilise his experience alongside Callum Doyle and Max Cleworth in defence.
“I’m really enjoying leading the team in the middle of the back three with Doyle and Max beside me,” continued Worrall who spoke of discussions with those two teammates. “I was speaking to them, and they’re still learning the game and looking at how to play.
“They’ve got experience, a couple of hundred games each, especially Max with all of them at this Club, which he knows inside and out. At the same time, I feel like I’m a calming influence on them, making sure they’re in the right positions at the right time and hopefully they’ll be leaders in a few years.”
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