Are Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney ever ‘underdogs’? Wrexham ready to play that card on a regular basis in League One despite presence of Hollywood co-owners

The Hollywood riches at the Red Dragons’ disposal have allowed them to blaze a trail out of the National League and through the fourth tier of English football. They have, for the most part, been a big-spending fish in a small pond.

That is no longer the case as the playing field beings to level out the further up the EFL pyramid you climb, with those at SToK Racecourse looking to rein in expectation ahead of a first campaign on the third rung of the League ladder in 20 years.

Phil Parkinson still expects his side to be competitive, but is eager to point out that they will not be favourites in every fixture that they play. He has said: “Everything at your football club has got to improve to match those standards we’re going to come up against. But that’s the challenge we worked hard to achieve and now it’s up to us to face it full on with a really positive mindset. We’re really excited to have a go at the division. There's an expectancy on a lot of other clubs in this division. Birmingham, Bolton and Huddersfield and all those teams are going to be under huge pressure to produce this season. I think having that underdog card to play at times won't do us any harm. But we've got to go about our business with real clarity with what we want to achieve in terms of the squad and we'll see if that makes us competitive.”

Many are still tipping Wrexham to piece together a promotion push in 2024-25, potentially through the play-offs, with Reynolds and McElhenney continuing to make the funds available that is allowing more shrewd business to be carried out in the summer transfer window.