Wrexham away in a battle between sixth and seventh in the current Championship standings, with Saints having a game in hand but Wrexham have a one point of advantage. Win this and they will be four points ahead of us, thus negating the game in hand, so that will clearly be their target. Whilst a draw would not be the worst result in the world for us, we will certainly be going out there with the expectation of winning, particularly after the Arsenal game. One thing against us is that Wrexham have had an extra day to recover from their Friday night game away at West Brom, where they quickly went 2-0 down, but fought back in the second half to get a decent point and it’s that point which has put them above us in the table for now.

Phil Parkinson is a former Saints trainee who was in the youth teams around the same time as Matt Le Tissier, and he has achieved promotions in straight seasons from the National League, through League 2, League 1 and is now challenging at the top end of the Championship. Whatever your resources and whatever your situation, that takes some doing and is an incredibly impressive achievement of course. With football being the way it is, increased profile brings increased expectations and when they initially struggled to adapt to the Championship, unbelievably, there were people looking at him as being the reason. It’s a great football story that once settled, Wrexham have been mid-table or above since before Christmas and the fact that they are even in the conversation for the playoffs is a testament to Parkinson’s ability as a manager.

I’ve got this far without mentioning the Hollywood Circus, the documentary, the media love-in and any of that bullshit. On the one hand, when you compare Wrexham‘s Hollywood owners with other owners around the game, then how can you have a problem with it – not exactly the sovereign state of some Middle Eastern country is it? The problem is of course one of perception and that perception is fed by the media who suck up and form any big name, be it a big name from football endeavours or Hollywood movie stars.

With Hollywood comes branding however and what used to be universally known as the Racecourse Ground is now almost always referred to as the Stok Cae Ras, which is a sponsor plus the Welsh language version of the ground name it was previously referred to as. Deadpool and the other guy are very keen to tap into their Welsh identity as a club though Wrexham has one of the lowest concentration of Welsh speakers in the country (12.2% in 2001) so I imaging that a lot of their fans had no idea what Y Cae Ras was either. The Welsh drive also extends to the playing staff where they paid relatively decent money in wages and/or fees for some Welsh players like Nathan Broadhead and Kieffer Moore. Moore in particular will be living rent free in the heads of Saints players after the tough time he gave everybody on the opening day of the season at St Mary’s, but luckily, the player who had the most nightmares as a result of the big Welshman, was Ronnie Edwards who is no longer with us. Moore played the last half an hour against West Brom on Friday having just had a long injury break that was bad enough to keep him out of Wales unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the World Cup via the playoffs. It will be somewhat surprising if at 33, he has significantly recovered from Friday to start this game.

Saints of course, ride in on the crest of an Arsenal shaped wave, only marginally dented by being paired with Manchester City and the semi-final. That’s for another day however, and today will be about carrying that momentum forward and bringing the energy again, which is going to be a key component of the rest of the season bearing in mind that we are now going mid week/weekend/midweek/weekend from now until the end of the regular season. It will be a real test of that old cliché that players always come out with about preferring playing as opposed to training.

I would expect that to be a few changes for tonight with Shea Charles, Cyle Larin, Kuryu Matsuki and Flynn Downes the most likely to come in. Today gives Tonda another tactical challenge because Wrexham play a kind of 3-4-2-1 formation. Let’s face it, we should know how to get at that system having seen other teams do it to us in the earlier part of the season.

Wrexham are going to come flying at us in this one as it’s massive for them being at home and with games running out. We have to be ready for that, match it and them impose our game on them. Match their effort and we certainly have enough to win this game. Don’t match it and it’ll be a game like West Brom a few weeks ago.

Team news and woah! 6 changes. Downes and Matsuki unsurprisingly, but also Stephens, Charles, Edozie and Larin. It does mean that the bench looks stacked, with the likes of Stewart, Scienza and Fellows to freshen up the attack later on. Kieffer Moore does start for Wrexham, and the two just behind him are Broadhead and Windass, who will need to be watched carefully.

Wrexham kick off and by the time they do so, Moore has cantered about fifteen yards into our half so we go again. On the second attempt, Windass manages to pass the ball to himself so we go back for a third attempt. Pure Hollywood. Despite the shambles, Siants start the game very fast and Wrexham look absolutely shit to be honest, not picking up anyone in midfield and allowing us to build up however we want to. Ryan Manning slings over a cross from the left on five minutes which looks too long but Larin does brilliantly to crane his neck and head the ball back over a Okonkwo and it pings off the bar bounces down onto the ground and Azaz has empty net to nod it into but instead of doing that, he heads it against the bar again and Wrexham get away with it. As bad misses go, this is right up there.

Saints carry on playing through midfield and Wrexham carry on not getting near us and Azaz sends Larin away down the right and he bundles through two defenders before finding Azaz again on the edge of the box. He passes up the chance to shoot before waiting for an opening as three players close him down and he pokes it through the legs of a defender to Matsuki inside the penalty area and he takes a touch before simply passing the ball into the corner of the goal. I love Matsuki, what a guy, what a player – really good finish and the lead after 11 minutes that we deserve.

Wrexham are playing with the back three including defenders that couldn’t run if they were on fire. Edozie senses the weakness in Cleworth and flies past him on the left before putting a perfect cross in between on Okonkwo and the remaining defenders but no one can get in there to finish it off.

Fifteen minutes and I honestly can’t believe how shit they are. All they’ve got is the long ball up to Moore and I know he’s big but he’s not the 15 foot tall he needs to be to do anything with the service he’s getting. Charles and Azaz in particular are still picking up as much room as they want in midfield. A simple ball finds Edozie, who has obviously got inside Cleworth’s head as he holds him down for no real reason and no yellow card from Gavin Ward. Bree puts in a low free kick towards the near post and Edozie but he gets challenged and the ball gets half cleared to the edge of the box where Flynn Downes is lurking and he drills it all the way along the ground and into the corner of the net. 2-0 and totally deserved.

Wrexham are still not learning the lessons in Charles pisses through midfield again before sending a Edozie away but he turns down the left foot across and switches on his right foot and dribbles an effort through to the goalkeeper. That’s where Sam lets himself down. It was crying out for a left foot cross with Larin, Azaz and Charles all in the area but instead of that, he takes the wrong option and hits it straight at the keeper.

At last, we see a bit of intent from Wrexham as they get the ball out on the right. The cross comes in but it’s blocked by Downes and bounces onto the ground and over the head of Jack Stepens and Broadhead meets it and flicks a header off the fire post and wide. Okay, it’s hit the post but it’s completely lucky how the ball got to him. It’s not as if they’ve carved us open.

Saints are pressing really well and not giving Wrexham the opportunity to play through midfield and they end up going back to Okonkwo and he goes full Route One with a big launch up towards Kieffer Moore. THB is underneath it until Moore smashes into the back of his head with a raised arm and then clatters into him. The ball goes on and Windass cuts inside Stephens attempt to clear up and then drill it into the corner with Peretz helpless. The whistle for the very incredibly fucking obvious foul never comes, and the spawny bastards are now back to within a goal. That is fucking horrendous refereeing. It should be a yellow card if anything.

There was a time when Saints would cave at the unfairness of it all but instead, Saints then try a long ball themselves and Matsuki gets up and flicks it on and Larin gets in behind the defence but under pressure from the panicking Hyam, leans back and sends it miles over the bar onto the building site behind the goal

Half time and though I’m still extremely pissed off about the goal that Wrexham were allowed to score by their 12th man, I’m not too concerned because there are more goals out there for us due to the nature of Wrexham’s defending and the carthorses they have back there. Also remember, we have Scienza and Stewart to come on at some point and that will give our attack even more pace.

Saints again start the second half well with Bree putting a cross in the mixer which causes carnage and more shit defending by Kabore sees the ball bounce down to Larin and on the turn he smashes it goalwards but Okonkwo is in the right place and makes a decent save and Wrexham breathe again.

Sam Edozie is fading badly and so off he comes to be replaced by Leo Scienza. Wrexham gain the upper hand a little bit and a cross comes in from the left which is cleared out to Lewis O’Brien on halfway and he tries to pass it infield, but it’s sloppy and Larin seizes the ball on the halfway line, unhitches the caravan and he’s off, powering past the lumbering Cleworth and stampeding into the penalty area, before smashing it across the keeper and into the net. Brilliant finish, brilliant run, brilliant goal, game over. Over goes Cyle to the Saints fans, knee slide, holds the pose, Danny Ings at Pompey vibes. Cool as fuck.

Ryan Manning gets a rest along with Larin as we approach 75 minutes and on comes Ross Stewart and the back from injury, Welington. Wrexham are having a bit of a go and Shea Charles has to clear from in front of Peretz as the ball drops down. Kabore keeps it in and slings across back into the mixer and Peretz has a bit of a flap at it and Moore‘s header bounces off the post and is cleared.

The difference between the two attacks is stark as Wrexham seem to rely solely on getting it in the mixer whereas Saints are mixing it up and are mostly about crisp passing and Charles tees up Azaz on the edge of the box, who drills a shot through the crowd, which pings off the left-hand post. Next attack is a break with Brazilian flair, as Welington finds Scienza who flicks inside to Stewart who finds Welington continuing his run. Scienza takes over and is cynically dragged down and Gavin Ward actually thinks this is a foul, and gives us a free kick and a yellow card comes out. Welington has taken over set piece duties from Ryan Manning and chips it into the box and up goes the Loch Ness Drogba to power a header down into the ground and bouncing high into the net. Four fucking one. Have that you Deadpool bastards.

Wrexham are completely gone now, even though they were only ever briefly here, as once again we build up at will through Scienza and he finds himself on the right wing to pick up a pass from Matsuki and cross it in, causing Okonkwo to flap it down to Charles, who nods it into the path of Azaz who calmly volleys it into the net for the goal he deserves. 5-1 in your cup final.

Archer and Wood have come on an Archer picks up clearance in a kind of right midfield position and sets off towards goal, threatening to leave the ball behind him at one point, but he gets his head up and pick out Scienza on the left and Leo goes for the far top corner and forces a decent save out of the goalkeeper. The extra four minutes are played and there’s a sympathetic final whistle on 94:02.

Well, that hasn’t gone with the narrative of the media has it? An absolutely conclusive slap in the face. No, you are not having our place in the top six, try someone else.

What a game to illustrate the differences between the two teams. Saints were fluid throughout, playing lovely football through midfield and into the wide areas and in the end, being clinical in front of goal, despite that comical double crossbar effort in the first half. Wrexham absolutely shat their pants in that game and had no idea how to play against us. Basically, they resorted to route one shit up for Eeyore Moore to foul his opponent every time he goes for the ball. He is decent in the air, but he cannot do anything else but it was literally all they had, because every time they tried to play any football they usually just passed it out of play or gifted it to one of our players. They were terrible and they wonder if they always play like that. I have full respect for what Phil Parkinson is achieved but that really wasn’t great when confronted with a half decent team.

Wrexham never got going despite the referee who was on a planet of his own for the entire game and because we were the aggressive most of the time and on the front foot most of the time, we were the ones that had most of the shit decisions go against us. I’ve heard other teams this season have been moaning about the refereeing that they get against Wrexham but Phil Parkinson of course, after their last game, came out with some shit about presenting a dossier to Kevin Friend, who is in charge of the Championship referees, about the decisions they’ve had against them. That whinge certainly got them one decision today at least.

It’s ironic that Kevin Friend is the head of the Championship refs this season because he’s one of the worst referees we ever had, on a consistent basis back at the Premier League days. That performance of his against Liverpool when we should’ve had two penalties in the opening three minutes, not to mention a Liverpool red card, was one of the worst refereeing performances we’ve ever been on the end of and I will always remember for as long as I draw breath. I wonder what Parkinson will say about this game and Wrexham’s goal, which was quite possibly the most blatant foul. I’ve seen all season with Moore leading with his arm, catching THB in the head and then bundling into him, all the time getting nowhere near the ball. Made the game look close for a second for the documentary I guess. It’s on a par with the Crystal Palace game last season where Aaron Ramsdale got thrown into the post by an opposition player. It’s the most obvious foul ever and it’s fucking ridiculous that Gavin Ward has not blown his whistle.

Anyhow, there were some great goals in there today. There’s Azaz’ pass and Matsuki finish for the first, the controlled finish of Downes for the second, that determination and pace of Cyle Larin to burst past that defender and score, a really good Welington cross and superb header by Ross Stewart and finally are comfortable finish by Finn Azaz after a decent layoff by Shea Charles. All in all, a brilliant attacking display that also saw that brilliant header by Larin come down off for the bar followed by that ridiculously bad header by Azaz hitting the bar as well. Wrexham had their moments of course, which you always get by smacking the ball into the mixer towards a giant, but it was more hit and hope, more luck than judgement. They hit the post in the first half after cross had taken a crazy deflection and again in the second half when Peretz made a rare mistake, flapping at a cross.

That was awesome tonight, especially given that we had one day less to prepare and had all the emotion of the Arsenal win to put behind us before we played tonight‘s game. The six changes was a bit of a surprise as I didn’t think they’d be that many, but there were some players looking quite tired out there, notably James Bree and Ryan Manning. THB was solid as ever apart from when he was being fouled by Moore and Jack Stephens overcame a sluggish first half to come into his own in the second.

Tonda had another brilliant day, again showing that he is a quick learner. The last time we put in a sluggish performance was against West Brom and it looked like we hadn’t made enough changes to the team to keep it fresh. No such problem today with six changes being made from the team that beat Arsenal. I guess that illustrates how well the squad is gelling right now, that we can make these changes without there being a notable drop in performance levels. I love the fact that after the game, Tonda still found time after a 5-1 win, to rage about the goal that we conceded. I’m glad he was still annoyed about it because I was as well.

Onwards and the table is looking interesting – still 6th but next up are Derby County and if we win that, then we can look up and maybe, just maybe, the ‘automatic’ word might come into play.

Up the fucking Saints