'Stop doing things with Albi!' - Paul Mullin reveals he got telling off from Wrexham's physio for spine injury suffered in a sandpit

Mullin has been a vital figure for Wrexham since joining from Cambridge United in 2021, playing a big role in their promotion from the National League to League Two. The Red Dragons want to take care of one of their most important players and admits he has put his fitness at risk to play with his son, Albi.

"Like I’d said to Phil Parkinson, to some degree the club would have to trust that I knew how to look after myself," he wrote in his book My Wrexham Story. "If I don’t want to do a gym session it’s not me being a knobhead, it’s because I don’t feel like it’s what I need to do that day.

"Kev’s [Mulholland, Wrexham physio] been great with that, although I have been known to test his patience at times. For his fourth birthday, we took Albi to a trampoline centre. We went at a quiet time and it was lovely to see him and his cousins running riot. Thing is, professional footballers really aren’t meant to go on trampolines. I’d done the same thing earlier in the season, put some pictures on Instagram, and you’d think I’d gone base-jumping without a parachute the reaction I got. No way, though, am I missing out on family moments like that. I’m going to share every single thing I can with Albi. OK, I’ll admit occasionally that doesn’t always work out well. I recently banged the base of my spine sitting down on the edge of a sandpit. Kev couldn’t believe it – ‘You need to stop doing things with Albi!’ But he was laughing when he said it. He knew no way was that going to happen."

It was not playing with his son that resulted in a serious injury for Mullin, though. The striker sustained a punctured lung in a collision during a pre-season friendly against Manchester United in the summer, resulting in him missing the first six matches of the League Two campaign this season. He has scored seven league goals in just 13 appearances since his return to action.

Mullin and his Wrexham co-stars will be in action on Tuesday when they take on Burton Albion in the EFL Trophy. Four days later, they face Forest Green Rovers in League Two as they look to close the five-point gap on leaders Stockport County.