Wrexham Held to Draw by Burnley: Areas for Improvement

Phil Parkinson admitted Wrexham are still short of their best after being forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.

The Red Dragons had to claw their way back. Trailing to the Championship’s bottom side, they needed Jacques Ekomie’s second-half header to rescue a point at the Racecourse and stretch their unbeaten run to three matches.

It was not the home statement many expected.

Wrexham arrived on the back of a 3-0 dismantling of Millwall and a hard-earned 0-0 at Swansea, results built on defensive control and discipline. This time, Parkinson saw a different picture.

"There are things we can do better," the Wrexham manager said, cutting straight to the chase after the final whistle.

He pinpointed their work without the ball as the key problem. Burnley tweaked their approach, and Wrexham never quite adjusted quickly enough.

"Without the ball, tactically we didn't get it quite right. They changed a couple of things and we were also a bit passive in terms of the way we pressed as well," Parkinson admitted.

That passivity gave Burnley more room than Swansea or Millwall ever enjoyed. Where Wrexham had previously squeezed space and suffocated attacks, gaps opened up.

"It was a combination of those two factors and if you look at the Swansea and Millwall games we restricted two teams to hardly a shot on goal," he said. "Against Burnley there was just a bit too much space in areas and we need to look at that."

The issue, in Parkinson’s eyes, was not effort but positioning. His side dropped too deep, too often, and Burnley accepted the invitation.

"We got caught 10 to 15 yards too deep at times," he said. "At half-time we rectified that and the pressing was loads better."

That adjustment helped turn the tide and paved the way for Ekomie’s equaliser, but it could not deliver the first home win of the season.

Unbeaten, but still waiting. The Racecourse crowd will expect that to change quickly.