Wrexham top the group! Red Dragons advance to EFL Trophy knockouts in first place despite 3-1 penalty shootout loss at League Two leaders Port Vale

Phil Parkinson insisted that he would be making wholesale changes for this fixture and the manager remained true to his statement as he named a completely different starting XI to the one that started during Saturday's 1-0 win against Mansfield in the league. However, it was a bit of a bumpy start to the day for the Red Dragons as skipper Will Boyle picked up a knock during warm-up and had to be replaced by Max Cleworth. Subsequently, right-back Luke Bolton had to be taken off within the first quarter of an hour as he fell to the ground injured and was replaced by Sebastian Revan.

Despite these setbacks, Wrexham enjoyed the bulk of the possession in the first half with Matty James playing a key role at the centre of the park. However, they kept faltering in the final third and the lack of imagination to carve out a decisive final ball was evident.

In the second half, strikers Modou Faal and Jon Bodvarsson looked more in tandem which was creating trouble for Port Vale's defence, which had little trouble in containing them in the opening 45 minutes. A flurry of corners in the opening minutes of the half shifted the scale firmly in Wrexham's favour and their perseverance paid off in the 51st minute when Cleworth tapped in from a set-piece. Bodvarsson flicked the ball backwards with his head towards the far post and an unmarked Cleworth did the rest by scoring from close range.

After getting their noses in front, Wrexham maintained their ascendency and Parkinson threw more firepower in attack by introducing Paul Mullin. However, this backfired as the hosts suddenly found a spring in their feet and started making inroads. They earned a few corners and were slinging in long throws inside the box. And in the 82nd minute, Rico Richards turned one of them in at the back of the net to force tie-breakers. In the shootout, Port Vale goalkeeper Ben Amos emerged as the hero as he denied Anthony Forde, Oliver Rathbone and Revan to seal a 3-1 win for his side.

The result of the shootout mattered little as both teams had by then secured their progress to the last 32, with Wrexham finishing ahead of Port Vale in first place.

Parkinson allowed his fringe players to make a case for themselves and Cleworth grabbed them with both hands. He put in a decent shift at centre-back and scored the opener to round off an impressive evening for the defender. Meanwhile, Amos deserves a special mention since he saved three spot kicks in the tie-breaker. But his efforts were in vain, as Wrexham would still go on to top the group with seven points as they have a better goal difference than Port Vale.

Mullin's barren run in front of the goal continues! The talismanic striker had the stage set for him to boost his confidence by nicking in a goal or two but the striker looked ordinary inside the box. He barely had a few sights of goal and now he has failed to score in 13 of his outings across all competitions after returning to action from a minor spinal surgery. However, he did convert his spot-kick to spare the blushes.

Following this EFL Trophy fixture, Wrexham will shift their focus back on League One with a game against Stockport next on Saturday.