PHIL PARKINSON praised his Wrexham players for maintaining their focus after a brilliant start against Gillingham on Saturday.
Ollie Palmer put the Reds ahead in the League Two clash at The Racecourse after only 57 seconds.
Although the game remained tight, Wrexham were in command, and the second goal came in the 71st minute when Ben Tozer pounced. The win extended the Reds’ unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions, moving them up to second in the table, five points behind leaders Stockport County, and Parkinson was pleased with the way his players performed.
“I thought it was a strong, professional performance from us,” Parkinson said.
“With the manager leaving and a new manager coming in, there is always that chance of a lift, so it was always going to be a potentially tricky game, but we limited them to very little and got the two important goals over the 90 minutes.”
I am overjoyed with the victory, and the lads maintained their focus and saw the game through to the end.
“It was a comfortable 2-0, but that’s not blasphemy. It took a lot of effort to get that comfortable feeling out on the pitch. The lads understand what is needed; it is both sides of the ball every week, and that is what we are putting in place.”
Palmer gave Wrexham the ideal start when he struck for the fifth time this season with less than a minute on the clock.
It took a while for the second goal to arrive and make the game safe but Parkinson felt his players were in control of the situation.
“You can’t ask for any more than that. It was a a good finish from Ollie and it was good to get that start,” said the Reds’ boss.
“I said to the lads at half-time, it was important that we didn’t play at 70-80 per cent and wait for them to score to respond.
It was important that we went to go and get that second goal straight away and it finally came with a great cross and a terrific finish from Ben.
“At 1-0, there is always a chance that someone will produce something out of nothing but concentration levels were good and I was pleased to get that second goal which gave us a bit of a cushion.”
Wrexham returned to league action following two wins in the FA Cup and EFL Trophy over Mansfield Town and Port Vale respectively.
“The cup games were a good break for us, we enjoyed the FA Cup and Tuesday,” added Parkinson.
“It was back to business and I was very pleased with the way the lads went about their game.
“It is always a lesson in football to keep doing your job for the team right to the end and I thought we did that very well.
