Wrexham beat Exeter City 2-0 on Saturday afternoon as Phil Parkinson picked up yet another away victory in the hunt for promotion.
Wrexham struggled away from home in the first half of the season, but something changed after the defeat at Shrewsbury Town in January.
Phil Parkinson has been on a brilliant run on the road ever since that torrid 2-1 loss, and Saturday only added to that fine recent form.
Wrexham won 2-0 at Exeter City on Saturday afternoon, with Ollie Rathbone and Jay Rodriguez on the scoresheet.
That is now six wins in seven away games since losing to Shrewsbury, with the 2-0 loss at Reading the only slip-up in this brilliant way run.
Wrexham sit three points clear in second place, though Wycombe Wanderers have a game in hand in the race for promotion.
Phil Parkinson on Wrexham preparations
This was always going to be a potential banana skin for Wrexham.
Exeter may sit in the bottom half of the League One table, but the Grecians came into the game in decent form with six games unbeaten.
Wrexham got the job done, though, and continue to push towards the Championship with the end of the season in sight.
Parkinson has commented on Wrexham’s preparations ahead of the game and highlighted one key area of focus.
Speaking on Wrexham’s official YouTube channel, Parkinson highlighted that Exeter have been ‘very strong’ on set plays.
Parkinson brought attention to one key statistic, stating that 55% of Exeter’s goals have come from set plays or long throws.
Wrexham worked hard on defending that approach and Parkinson was left delighted with how his players responded, especially in terms of limiting free kicks.
“Exeter have been on a better run of late, they’ve had some good results,” said Parkinson.
“They’re very strong on set plays and long throws, they’ve got the highest percentage of goals – 55% – from those situations.
“We’d worked on that side of the game, and I thought we did really well in terms of not giving too many free kicks away, which was key today, but also defending our box,” he added.
Wrexham now face two teams in the bottom half for set-piece goals
Saturday’s game will go to the back of the mind for Parkinson, whose attention now turns straight on to facing Cambridge United in midweek.
Wrexham prepared to face a dangerous set-piece side with Exeter racking up 22 set-piece goals this season – behind only Lincoln City.
The preparations for Cambridge United may be a little different, though, as they have scored 13 set-piece goals this season, leaving them 15th in League One in that area.
Wrexham then host Burton Albion next weekend, with the Brewers even lower for set-piece goals; nine in total and 20th in the league.
Parkinson will be studying both teams in the coming days and will come up with a game plan to hopefully land Wrexham another three points in the race for promotion.
