The Red Dragons boss Phil Parkinson has plenty of belief that his players can cause an upset
Phil Parkinson says Wrexham will approach their FA Cup clash with Chelsea believing they are capable of producing a major upset.
The Championship side host the Premier League outfit at the Racecourse Ground in the fifth round of the FA Cup, with Wrexham aiming to reach the quarter-finals for only the fourth time in their history.
Parkinson acknowledged his side will start as underdogs against a Chelsea team competing at the top end of the Premier League, but insisted belief must remain central to his players’ mindset.
“You’ve got to go into every game believing and if not, we might as well not turn up,” he said.
“We’ve got to go into it with a belief but we’ve also got to go into it with an understanding of the underdog mentality and what boxes we’ve got to tick to make the evening as difficult as possible for Chelsea.”
Wrexham’s rapid rise in recent seasons has been widely covered by the media.
The club, owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have secured three consecutive promotions and are currently pushing for another step up while sitting in the Championship play-off places.
Parkinson believes the occasion itself should be embraced by players and supporters alike.
“It’s always good to be here in front of our home fans,” he said.
“Saturday is a bit of a celebration, I feel, for the journey the club are on, and I want the supporters to come in and enjoy watching us play against top-class opposition.”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been in this round, we’ve got a rich history in the FA Cup and it’s important on Saturday evening our supporters and the wider audience that are going away from the game have seen a team which has respected that.”
The Wrexham boss watched Chelsea in person earlier this week as they defeated Aston Villa 4-1 at Villa Park.
“It was a great game to watch. It was very entertaining and Chelsea were good on the night,” Parkinson said.
“It was great to be at the game and to watch them on the bigger picture rather than on the laptop and get a good feel for what they’re all about, and it’s going to be a great game.”
Changes expected for Blues
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior may rotate his squad with a Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain approaching next week, but Parkinson said his focus remains on ensuring Wrexham perform at their best.
“You’ve got to look at the opposition but you’re always concentrating on picking our team and getting us to function to the best of our ability.”
The FA Cup tie begins a busy run of fixtures for Wrexham, who return to league action against Hull before hosting rivals Swansea in a Welsh derby.
For Parkinson, it is exactly the type of week everyone at the club has worked towards.
“It’s a great week for us,” he said.
“These are the weeks that you really want to be involved in as a manager, player, supporter.”
“Chelsea at home in the FA Cup and then we roll into two really exciting games.”
“When people moan about fixtures, we’ve worked hard to get to this stage of the FA Cup, we’ve worked exceptionally hard to be in the top six and I want us to make the most of this week, starting with the weekend.”
