Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson must double down on bold Paul Mullin call | OneFootball

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson must stick with tough call of omitting Paul Mullin from the first 11 ahead of new signing Sam Smith

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson must double down on his call to drop Paul Mullin in favour of new signings Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez for their trip to Northampton Town next weekend.

Parkinson notably left out the Wrexham legend during the Reds' away trip to Crawley Town, choosing instead to back his new record-breaking signing Sam Smith from Reading.

Parkinson also noticeably left out fellow Wrexham hero Ollie Palmer in favour of fellow new signing, former Premier League man Jay Rodriguez.

Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer have struggled for consistent goals

Mullin and Palmer have been well below their usual standards so far this season with the two forwards only scoring six league between them so far. Whereas new boy Smith already has 11 this campaign from his time at the Royals and adds a fresh, younger look to Wrexham's frontline.

With Mullin and Palmer looking like shadows of their former selves, it's the natural decision that Parkinson keeps the faith in his new signing Smith, who has proven he's more than capable of scoring goals in League One.

The new kids on the block

With these new signings coming in, Parkinson now has a plethora of attacking options in his squad.

It isn't just the signing of Smith that shakes things up for the Reds, but also the acquisition of Rodriguez – the former Southampton, Burnley and West Brom striker.

His is a familiar name to many English football fans because of his time in the Premier League. After coming through at Burnley, he moved to the Saints, Baggies, and then back to the Clarets. During this time, he made 258 Premier League appearances, scoring 46 goals and registering 17 assists.

With such valuable experience at the highest level of English football, he's decided to drop to League One for the first time in his career at the age of 35 but still has so much to give.

With both new strikers playing over 70 minutes against Crawley before being replaced by further seasoned EFL bagsmen Jack Mariott and Steven Fletcher, it hints where Parkinson's head is at, as his former reliable forward duo both didn't get given a place in the matchday squad.

Phil Parkinson delighted over his new recruits and should double down

Parkinson was quick to show his delight with his two new boys after they played in Saturday's win over Crawley despite not training with their new squad.

He said: "We put two new lads in the team (Rodriguez and Smith) who were up until the early hours of the morning on Thursday due to medials, then traveled down with us (Friday). So it's a huge lift to get two new signings in."

It's no secret that Smith is now Wrexham's record signing at a reported fee near £2 million while Rodriguez's wages are unlikely to be cheap. That is a massive investment and Parkinson would be right to double down on his decision to drop Mullin and Palmer in favour of the new men.

His trusted lieutenants weren't delivering the goals needed and the Red Dragons boss may now have to be ruthless. Leaving out such popular figures is a bold call but it's the necessary one right now.