Wrexham head into the new Championship season with a clear objective: keep the goals flowing at the same rate while shoring up a defence that leaked far too often last term.
Under Phil Parkinson, the Red Dragons were one of the most potent attacking sides in the second tier last season, netting 69 league goals - a total bettered by only five clubs, all of whom finished in the top six: Coventry City, Ipswich Town, Southampton, Middlesbrough and Hull City. Wrexham's efficiency in front of goal was equally striking, with a conversion rate of 13.24%, surpassed only by Hull (13.42%) and Derby County (13.29%). The club also outperformed their expected goals tally by 12.21, the best overachievement of any side in the division.
However, that attacking prowess masked a leaky defence that proved costly. Only five teams conceded more goals than Wrexham's 65, and two of those - Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City - ended up relegated. The north Wales club also made 29 errors leading directly to a shot, with only six teams recording more, while just Sheffield Wednesday, Hull and Swansea City faced more shots on target than Wrexham's 203. Perhaps most tellingly, Wrexham conceded two or more goals in 22 of their 46 league fixtures.
Injuries played a significant part in the defensive struggles, with first-choice wing-backs Issa Kabore and Liberato Cacace sidelined for spells during the campaign. Parkinson was also forced into repeated reshuffles of his back three in the opening half of the season before things began to stabilise. Centre-backs Callum Doyle and Dom Hyam grew into influential figures as the campaign wore on, while midfielder George Thomason filled in admirably as an emergency left wing-back.
With Kabore's countryman Imray expected to return to full fitness, the right side of defence should look more secure heading into the new season, though question marks remain over cover on the left. Between the posts, Wrexham have also moved to strengthen a position that produced mixed results from both Arthur Okonkwo and Danny Ward last season.
To address that, the club have brought in goalkeeper Patterson, 26, a player with a strong connection to Parkinson dating back to his time at Sunderland. Parkinson handed Patterson his professional debut at the Stadium of Light in November 2020, shortly before departing the club. Since then, Patterson has gone on to win two promotions with Sunderland and impressed on loan at Millwall last season, helping the Lions reach the play-offs - experience the club hope will allow him to settle quickly into life at Wrexham.
Off the pitch, the club continues to expand rapidly. Work on a new 7,500-seater Kop Stand is due for completion next year, part of the broader transformation that has accompanied Wrexham's rise. Revenue is projected to increase sharply, from roughly £33.3m in 2024-25 to between £46m and £50m for the year ending June 2026.
Despite securing three promotions in the last four seasons, the club's ambitions extend well beyond simply consolidating in the Championship. Former Wales international Nia Jones, speaking on the BBC's Feast of Football podcast, suggested that having missed out on the play-offs last season, Wrexham may benefit from reduced external pressure this time around. "Wrexham will have learnt a lot after missing out on the play-offs last season," she said. "The fact they went back to back to back put a lot of pressure on them and put them even more in the spotlight. They were the team to beat... So now they have stayed in the same league, hopefully it puts them a little bit more under the radar, and they'll have less pressure on them."
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.