‘Upset and disrupt’ - Wrexham star reveals game plan for Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ Red Dragons to thrive in the Championship despite opening day loss to Southampton

Wrexham fell to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Southampton on Saturday as they returned to the Championship after 43 years away. Amid the attention surrounding Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and their big spending this summer, new recruit Coady hopes the Red Dragons can be a force to be reckoned with this term.

He told ESPN: "We're going to cope with it. We know what we are. We know how we're going to play and we're here to upset and disrupt a few teams in this division. We'll keep on trying to do that. We've shown we can play. We'll keep building, we'll keep improving. We have to improve, we have to get better. That's the biggest thing."

Wrexham have spent nearly £15 million ($20m) on transfers this summer as they target the Premier League following three straight promotions. This will likely be their toughest task yet but with players like former England international Coady in their midst, the Welsh outfit have a chance of competing in the Championship.

Coady and Wrexham will hope to bounce back from the Southampton loss when they begin their Carabao Cup campaign with a first-round clash with fellow Championship outfit Hull City on Tuesday at Stok Cae Ras.