Wrexham relax into tension of Championship play-off race

Two games to go, two goals in it.

It could not be much tenser in the race to reach the Championship's play-offs.

And yet Wrexham are relaxed. Or at least that is what manager Phil Parkinson claims is behind their well-time turnaround and return to the top six.

On Saturday morning, the north Wales club were four points behind sixth-placed Hull City having suffered back-to-back defeats, including a crushing 5-1 beating by rivals Southampton and a flat 2-0 loss at Birmingham City.

Four days later the gap is gone, with Hull's hiccups and back-to-back victories pushing Wrexham ahead on goal difference.

"We never stopped believing, but the key to us in the last two games is that we've relaxed a bit," Parkinson said after Josh Windass' goal sealed a 1-0 win over Oxford United on Tuesday night.

"We just regrouped. I felt against Birmingham we were almost too desperate to go and win it, so we just tried to take a step back and had a week to reflect on what we need to and got our performance levels back to where they need to be."

And the side back into the position they want to be heading into the final week of the regular season.

Parkinson admitted his explanations may sound overly simplistic but – with a tinker to his team and the return to fitness and form of key midfielder Matty James – it has worked.

All of a sudden, the team who know better than most what it takes to win promotion have the bit between their teeth again.

Wrexham's challenge is to remain relaxed when the Championship carries on without them on Wednesday night and Saturday before they next play.

While Wrexham wait until midday on Sunday to face a Coventry City side enjoying the spoils of the title in their final home game, rivals above and below will be in anxious action.

Hull face a Saturday lunchtime trip to Charlton Athletic, while Middlesbrough – without a win in seven and now only three points ahead, albeit with a significantly better goal difference – welcome Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday and then Watford on Saturday.

To add to the intrigue, Boro travel to the Cae Ras on the final day while Hull welcome Norwich City.

Derby County – four points behind Wrexham with two to play – take on Queens Park Rangers away and Sheffield United at home hoping for others to slip-up.

'Can't stop the Reds?'

In the three years to the day from the first promotion out of non-league, Parkinson has rarely allowed himself to publicly predict what could happen in a promotion race or let himself be accused of getting carried away.

He was not about to start at Oxford, chuckling to the question of what will be needed to get over the line as he responded "more points than the teams around us", and not prepared to guess whether Coventry's title-sealing win over Portsmouth on Tuesday night was good news ahead of Sunday.