The best of the Welsh spoils from a tough weekend went to Wrexham – leaving manager Phil Parkinson satisfied.

The Wrexham boss returned to his old club Bradford City and saw his side earn a creditable 1-1 draw at Valley Parade, although it might have been better had they clung on to a lead provided by striker Paul Mullin.

The result leaves the Dragons fourth in League Two – just two points and one place outside the automatic promotion places.

“It was a hard-earned point,” said Parkinson.

“I knew coming here today with a full house that it was going to be a feisty encounter.

“It was fast and furious at times and of course, when you go a goal ahead you want to take the three points, but we had to withstand pressure in the second period.

“I thought the way we defended our box was outstanding; some of the defending was top class.

“We didn’t get hold of the ball as much as I wouldn’t have liked in the second half but when you don’t do that, you have got to be physical in your box and we were terrific at times.

“I was obviously disappointed to concede but this is a difficult place to come, especially with the atmosphere today, and it is another hard-earned point for us.”

 

Wrexham’s Welsh League Two rivals Newport County threw away a much-needed victory when they allowed Walsall to fight back and earn a 3-3 draw at Rodney Parade.

Manager Graham Coughlan’s side had led three times in the game, but Freddie Draper capitalised on defensive errors to score a hat-trick.

“Our defensive frailties are really, really irritating me at this moment,” Coughlan said.

“I think you can look back at every goal we’ve conceded this season and they are down to individual errors.

“Whether that’s because we’re getting uptight, whether we’re getting ourselves nervous or whether we’re feeling a little bit of pressure… Yes, they are young lads, but that’s still no excuse for conceding the goals that we’re conceding.

“Getting a centre-half pairing has been an issue – we can’t seem to get any type of continuity at centre-half.

“We’re free flowing and free scoring and really good offensively and scoring in every game.

“But we’ve certainly got to do better defensively.”

 

Higher up the food chain, both Swansea City and Cardiff City in the Championship, with the Swans’ five-game unbeaten run coming to an end.

Swans captain Matt Grimes finished on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline as Leicester City came from behind and made history by becoming the first ever side in the second tier to win their opening six away matches of a league campaign. “I’ve been playing in the Championship for a long time now and that’s the best team I’ve played against,” said Grimes.

“They’re a very good side with Premier League quality, and you can see that with the players they played and the subs they brought on.

“There were things to work on of course, but I don’t think we played badly. We were right in the game, and there were just a few moments in key periods that went against us.

“I thought the first goal we conceded was disappointing, because it was from a corner, but other than that it was decent performance.

“For a lot of the younger lads that’s a learning curve, but I don’t think it will get much tougher than that this season to be honest.

“The lads at the back were brilliant, but Leicester have so much quality going forward you just have to limit them to as few chances as possible.

Erol Bulut has ordered his Cardiff City players to harden up after they lost their third match in five to drop further down the Championship table.

A 1-0 reverse at Blackburn Rovers has left the Bluebirds in 11th place as they crashed to a third successive away defeat.

“It was a game between two teams that didn’t create many chances and always looked like one in which the first side that scored would go on to win,” said manager Bulut.

“We had more shots on goal than they did, but they scored from a small mistake by us, which was down to our concentration and communication not being good enough down the middle of the pitch.

“We have to be more focussed, sharp and aggressive in those situations and areas of the pitch. In the last 20 minutes, we tried hard to score, but it wasn’t enough.”

Asked if he needs to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window, Bulut added: “Until January we have to go with this squad.

“We will try and make the best. In January we have to do something in the transfer market, because we need it.”