'We smelt blood!' - Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson fires warning to Championship promotion rivals as Rob Mac sends 'never ever give up' message after QPR comeback

An early strike from Harvey Vale saw QPR head into half-time a goal to the good. Callum Doyle equalised just after the break, but an 80th-minute goal from Steve Cook put the hosts back in front. Heading into added time, Amadou Salif Mbengue was sent off for the hosts as the fairytale comeback took shape for Wrexham. Josh Windass looked to have rescued a draw, before Ollie Rathbone turned one point into three with an incredible effort. The result moved Wrexham into the Championship play-off places, now sitting sixth in the table.

Speaking to the press post-match, Wrexham boss Parkinson praised his players for taking advantage of QPR's precarious situation. "You saw how quickly we got the ball and got back [after the late equaliser], we smelt blood," he said. "You can feel that as a team sometimes. Their lad got sent off, I don't know whether that impacted it or not, but you felt that we were the team most likely to go and win it.

"Josh showed incredible technique and what can I say about Ollie - his goals-per-minutes, it's probably the top in the league.

"The big thing for us was that we were leaving players out of the team that may have expected to play. I felt the professionalism of the group got us the win. Players are always disgruntled when they're not in the team, but there was a togetherness about the group and that showed, particularly with Josh and Ollie.

"It was difficult out there. It's probably the worst pitch in the division. To go away with the three points is a big bonus for us."

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Wrexham are chasing down a fourth promotion in as many years having already secured three in a row to rise from non-league to the Championship. They have never played in the Premier League, or the English top-flight in general. With celebrity co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, who took to social media to celebrate Saturday's win, on board, the club now have a worldwide profile and spent around £29 million ($39m) during the summer 2025 transfer window, while they have more recently been linked with a £19m ($26m) bid for Angers striker Sidiki Cherif.

The Red Dragons will resume their promotion push next Saturday with a trip to Sheffield Wednesday, who sit bottom of the Championship on -7 points having received deductions totalling 18 points for financial issues.