Huddersfield Town 0-1 Wrexham AFC: FLW report as Steven Fletcher keeps Red Dragons in hunt for second | OneFootball

Report, ratings, reaction and more from the John Smith's Stadium as Huddersfield Town host Wrexham.

Wrexham AFC continued their pursuit of automatic promotion in League One with a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town at the John Smith's Stadium.

Steven Fletcher stepped off the bench to score the only goal of the game, converting from close range and making an immediate impact after Phil Parkinson's decision to throw him into the action.

For Huddersfield and Michael Duff, they were left to rue not taking a big chance through Dion Charles in what was an impressive first half. Ultimately, a third defeat in four leaves them hanging onto sixth and without a home goal in 2025.

Huddersfield Town 0-1 Wrexham AFC

Fletcher steps off the bench to edge Wrexham to win

Josh Koroma had the ball in the net on the back of a strong opening 15 minutes from Huddersfield, but the forward was denied by an offside flag after converting.

That was the big talking point of an opening exchange that was more positive for Huddersfield than it was for visiting Wrexham.

Michael Duff's side should have taken the lead through substitute Dion Charles - on for the injured Koroma - as well. Callum Marshall did well, working the ball into the striker on the break, leaving Charles 1v1 with Arthur Okonkwo, but his finish was wild and cleared the crossbar.

Tawanda Chirewa flashed across goal, with Huddersfield's first half lacking only a breakthrough.

Jay Rodriguez's volley forced Lee Nicholls into action in the second half, before Wrexham opened the scoring on the back of a flurry of substitutions.

Steven Fletcher was the man to step off the bench and break the deadlock seconds after entering the pitch. Nicholls kept out Sam Smith's initial header, but Huddersfield couldn't scramble the ball clear and Fletcher converted from point-blank range - his position on the goal line beyond Nicholls sparking Huddersfield protests that fell on deaf ears.

Ben Wiles and Lasse Sorensen had efforts on Okonkwo's goal as Huddersfield pushed for an equaliser but, ultimately, the Wrexham goalkeeper wasn't forced into anything like a meaningful save.

Nicholls almost connected with a late corner and Wiles fluffed his lines to rescue something Huddersfield perhaps deserved at the death, sparking big celebrations from the travelling Wrexham faithful.

Huddersfield Town v Wrexham attendance

20,502

Player Ratings

Huddersfield Town

Lee Nicholls - 6

Brodie Spencer - 7

Nigel Lonwijk - 6 (Lasse Sorensen - 6)

Josh Ruffels - 7 (Joe Taylor - n/a)

Ollie Turton - 7

Antony Evans - 6

Joe Hodge - 7

Ruben Roosken - 6 (Jonathan Hogg - 5)

Tawanda Chirewa - 7 (Ben Wiles - 5)

Callum Marshall - 6

Josh Koroma - 5 (Dion Charles - 4)

Subs (not used)

Jacob Chapman

Freddie Ladapo

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Wrexham

Arthur Okonkwo - 6

Max Cleworth - 7

Eoghan O'Connell - 7

Tom O'Connor - 7

Ryan Longman - 6 (Ryan Barnett - 6)

George Dobson - 5 (Elliot Lee - 6)

Matty James - 7

Oliver Rathbone - 6

Sebastian Revan - 6

Sam Smith - 6 (Jack Marriott - n/a)

Jay Rodriguez - 5 (Steven Fletcher - 7)

Subs (not used)

Mark Howard

James McClean

Dan Scarr

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League One table

Wrexham second, two adrift of Wycombe; Huddersfield hanging onto sixth

Phil Parkinson reaction

Fletcher puts "fear" in Wrexham opposition

Parkinson reflecting on the win: "It's a huge win for us tonight. Huddersfield are right up there and a good side. They are a big club and had a good win at Stevenage.

"In the first 15 minutes, we took a while to get up to the speed of the game, but after that I was pleased with periods of play in the first half. In the second half, the wind was against us and conditions were difficult. We restricted a good side to very little and got the all-important goal."

Parkinson on match winner Fletcher: "Fletch is a great player. When the opposition sees him warming up and ready to come on, he puts a lot of fear into them because he's such a good player.

"I don't know (if the goal was Fletcher's first touch); I can't remember. It was a scramble, a great cross. Sam has headed it, and you wonder if it is going to end up in the back of the net, but it eventually did. I'm pleased for Fletch.

"As I always say about him, he's such a great team player - around the dressing room, the training ground. He helps us with the younger players and, on top of that, he scores important goals."

Michael Duff reaction

Huddersfield frustrations at Fletcher goal - "We've been done"

Duff on frustrations with Wrexham's winning goal: "We've been done, I think there's a foul (on Dion Charles) in the build-up to the goal, and then it's ricochet, bobbling around all over the place and Fletcher is stood offside on the line."

On Dion Charles' missed chance: "It must be (confidence issue). You can almost see his brain ticking as he's running through.

"He's made his decision to smash it from quite a long way out rather than going through and slotting it through. In the end, he smashed it high, wide and over the bar by some margin.

"We need to support and protect him. He's our player.