The race for the National League title and promotion to League Two could go down to the wire this season with Wrexham and Notts County battling it out for glory.
Wrexham suffered playoff semi-final heartbreak last season at the hands of Grimsby Town and will be hoping to have learned from the experience as they look to secure the automatic promotion spot to League Two this term.
A Cruel End To Last Season
Having won 26 of their 44 games last season, while losing just eight matches through the campaign, it was a cruel end for Wrexham in the playoffs. The Red Dragons have responded well to the heartbreak of their semi-final loss to Grimsby with great performances in the National League and the FA Cup this season. Wrexham reached the fourth round of the FA Cup before being knocked out by Sheffield United over two legs, with Manchester City now 11/10 in the football betting odds to lift the trophy.
While City will be the favourites to raise the trophy at Wembley, and even in the odds to win Premier League success this season, Wrexham have gone back to focusing on their main goal this season, which is promotion. Having played second fiddle to Stockport County last term, Wrexham now find themselves to be the team to beat this season.
Striker Paul Mullin has continued to play an important role for Phil Parkinson’s side, with the 28-year-old scoring 29 goals in his first 35 league appearances of the campaign. Mullin, who was key to the FA Cup run this term, bagged himself 26 goals in the National League last season and has already surpassed that individual total, will be determined to achieve the team objective of promotion to League Two.
Notts County Keeping The Pressure On
Notts County are the side standing in the way of Wrexham and the automatic promotion spot, with the East Midlands outfit enjoying a tremendous season of their own. Finishing last season in fifth place, the Magpies were also beaten by Grimsby in the quarter-final stage of the playoffs. Under head coach Luke Williams, Notts have come on leaps and bounds since last season to make themselves serious title challengers this time around.
A defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge, before a draw at Bromley, saw Williams’ side drop points but Notts are expected to be in the mix for the title right into the final weeks of the season. All eyes will be on the Racecourse Ground on April 10 when the Magpies make the trip across the border to take on Wrexham. It’s likely to be a game that will have a significant bearing on who will finish top of the pile come the regular season and who will have to brave it in the unpredictable playoffs once again.
Interest in the National League has been growing in recent years and the attention around the UK in the title race this season seems to have gone up another level. Wrexham will have taken time to get over how last season ended and Parkinson and his team will be doing all they can to get the job done this time around.
