Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson lauds signing of former Wolves striker Steven Fletcher after Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney's side suffer transfer deadline day 'setback'

The Dragons thought they had completed a swoop for Harrogate striker Luke Armstrong as the summer window wound down, but the EFL claimed that documentation was not completed in time and that a move could not be ratified. That forced Wrexham back into the market for goals, with co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney eventually able to put an agreement in place for veteran Scotland international striker Fletcher.

The former Wolves and Sunderland frontman made his debut off the bench in a 2-1 win over Doncaster, with Parkinson telling reporters of having the 36-year-old on board: "I was contemplating whether to put him on the bench because he only trained Thursday, a bit of a session, and Friday. I just said to him 'have you got 10-15 minutes in you, how do your legs feel after the last two days?' because we didn't want to get him injured. He said he felt he felt okay and he gave us a huge lift when he came on, he showed moments of quality. But equally, he showed some game management as well; he won a great header on the back stick from a set-play, and kept the ball in the corner towards the end. I am very pleased with the signing of Steven. Obviously we had a setback on transfer deadline day but as I have said many times, if we get set-backs it is 'okay, how are we going to resolve that?', and I feel we have resolved it with a really good signing."

Wrexham were also able to name last season’s 47-goal top scorer Paul Mullin among their substitutes against Doncaster, as he made his return from a punctured lung, and Parkinson added when asked if Fletcher will remain an impact option off the bench this season: "Steven played a lot of games last year and was a shining light in a very difficult season for Dundee United so we will have to see, who knows. I felt we needed another striker of real quality in the building, you can never have enough strikers at your disposal, and Steven showed that he is going to make a big contribution."

Wrexham, who have moved up to seventh in the League Two table on the back of their third victory in seven fourth tier fixtures this season, will be back in action on Saturday when playing host to Grimsby.