'It's a clear goal' - Notts County left raging after Wrexham defeat as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's side pick up crucial win in promotion chase

Wrexham secured a 1-0 win against Notts County to climb back into League Two's three automatic promotion places. But it could have been very different had David McGoldrick's would-be equaliser in the 70th minute not been ruled out for an apparent handball, which on reflection seemed harsh. Notts boss Stuart Maynard was asked about the flashpoint afterwards.

Maynard toldBBC Radio Nottingham: "The real frustration is that we probably deserve a point, minimum.

"We have watched the video back on Didzy's goal, it's a clear goal so we have scored a legitimate goal that should have stood, and it's frustrating because we go away with nothing.

"It hits his chest around the stomach area, it's as clean as you can see, I don't see where he sees the handball from. If you look at the reaction, in football, we always look at the reaction of the opposition players. They are all going back to the halfway line, the players are already thinking that the goal has been given.

"That is how you judge it a lot of the time and that's how you should as a referee. If you have that little grey area as a referee on whether it should be or shouldn't be, you have just got to look at the opposition reaction. It's hugely frustrating, but there were loads of positives."

With Steven Fletcher's first-half goal enough for the win and three points, Wrexham took advantage of Crewe drawing at home to Harrogate to leapfrog them into third place. But it was a missed opportunity for Notts County, who were pipped to automatic National League promotion into the EFL by Wrexham last season, as they would have gone into the play-off positions had they come away from north Wales with at least a draw.

Notts County are the oldest professional football club anywhere in the world, having been formed in November 1862. But Crystal Palace made a contested claim for that title in 2020 after alleging that they can trace their history as a club back to 1861 when a football team called Crystal Palace first existed. Yet that club was dissolved 15 years later, before today's Crystal Palace with no known ties to the previous iteration was later formed in 1905.

If Wrexham want to be playing in League One next season, a bit of consistency over the remainder of 2023/24 is crucial. The Red Dragons haven't won more than three consecutive league games since promotion, with their current run of two straight victories over Sutton United and Notts County preceded by three successive defeats. Current League Two leaders Stockport County put together 12 wins in a row earlier this season.