'Want to prove myself right' - Paul Mullin aiming to put 'sad' Wrexham exit behind him at Wigan as striker hits back at critics

Mullin swapped Championship new boys Wrexham for League One side Wigan on loan for the season, potentially signalling the end of his Red Dragons career. The striker was on the fringes of the Welsh side last term, with the 30-year-old watching from the sidelines as Phil Parkinson's team secured promotion. Now, he has spoken about his goals for the campaign and hit back at his detractors.

He said on Sky Sports: "Nothing really changes for me. I’ve always said that I never want to prove anyone wrong; I always want to prove myself right. There’s many reasons why I haven’t played at League One level through my career, that was purely due to choice a lot of the time, and obviously last year didn’t go the way I wanted. I think that was from a personal point of view, but many people will say ‘oh you didn’t score goals last year’, and they will be the same people that rely on xG, which, to be honest, I don’t believe in, but if that was the case, then I only had an xG of four and managed to score three, so it weren’t such a bad season for those people. I probably started 12 games and scored five goals, so I can spin it any way you want. For me, it wasn’t a successful season. I want to play games, never mind scoring goals, I just want to play and be part of a team that’s successful, that’s the most important thing to me, being successful as a team, and last year we were."

Mullin added on his decision to join Wigan: "It is a fresh start. People could be sad about it, like, obviously, a lot of Wrexham fans, but for me, I’m excited about the next chapter of my book. In life, you have many opportunities to change paths and go in different directions, and sometimes you’ve got to be brave to go and take the next step and see what’s next for you. I’m really looking forward to the future; it’s something I’m really excited about, and yeah, I’m fully excited about what’s to come."

Despite Mullin being surplus to requirements at Wrexham, the forward will go down as one of the club's greatest ever players. He was instrumental in two of their promotions from the National League and scored 110 goals in just 172 games for the club. Now, he is embarking on a new journey at Wigan.

Mullin, who sent an emotional message to Wrexham fans following his move earlier this summer, will hope to feature more regularly for Wigan this term after being on the bench for three of their five games in all competitions so far. He scored his first goal for the Lancashire outfit last week in the Carabao Cup, but drew a blank in a League One defeat to Luton on Tuesday night after being trusted to start.