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'Greedy' Wrexham dream of adding to 'incredible journey'

Wrexham are targeting a spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for only the fourth time in the club's history [Getty Images]

From the word go under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, Wrexham's journey has been full steam ahead.

Such has been the Red Dragons' astonishing rise, there has rarely been time for reflection.

But having booked their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 29 years by beating Ipswich Town, Phil Parkinson was keen to take a breath to let the club's latest impressive achievement sink in.

"Every season in football is special and you've got to savour it," said Parkinson.

"The FA Cup is part of that and it was important that we backed up the Nottingham Forest win with another win tonight."

Josh Windass netted the decisive goal against the Tractor Boys as Wrexham followed up their thrilling third round victory over Nottingham Forest with more home success in round four.

It proved to be a fitting end to a week in which celebrity owners Reynolds and Mac celebrated five years in charge of the north Wales club - who were seventh in the National League when they took control in February 2021.

"I think it's great for our owners, Rob and Ryan, it was their fifth year anniversary and to get them into the fifth round is great for them as well," said Parkinson.

"We can really look forward to the draw on Monday night when we're in the hotel in Bristol. We'll savour that.

"But like we did last time, back burner now for the FA Cup, concentrate on the league."

For star man Ollie Rathbone, the goal is to keep aiming for the stars.

"The club's on an incredible journey and we just want to keep adding to that," Rathbone told BBC Match of the Day Wales.

"It's another special night, and it's good to get back to winning ways at home."

Having hoped for time to savour Wrexham's progress, Parkinson's ruthless streak swiftly returned to the fore, as it has done so often during his glorious reign at Stok Cae Ras to date.

When asked about memorable nights becoming standard, the 58-year-old responded: "Let's not get too blasé about it, but listen, we've had so many great nights here and we want more.

"We're greedy, why shouldn't we be?"

The Wrexham manager is only too aware that his side have a strong chance of drawing a Premier League team in the fifth round.

And while his wish was ultimately for another home tie in the last-16, goal scorer Windass had a different outcome in mind when it comes to Monday's draw.

"Hopefully not a big team away because you don't touch the ball," said Windass.

Changes fail to deliver

It was a disappointing night for the 1,269 away supporters in north Wales as they saw their side fail to register a single shot on target.

Kieran McKenna's starting line-up showed 10 changes from the Tractor Boys' 2-1 win at Derby County six days earlier - fully emphasising the Northern Irishman's desire to put his best resources into securing a top two spot in the Championship.

The Ipswich boss had no regrets over his decision to make wholesale changes as his side remain firmly in the hunt to clinch an immediate return to the top-flight.

"Look, it was good players coming into the team. When you make a lot (of changes) at the same time, players who have not had a lot of minutes or need minutes, you're not going to be at your absolute best," he told BBC Match of the Day Wales.

"I know the reasons why we've done it. For me, the right reasons for the football club and I believe in the players who came in. The whole group will be stronger for it.

"We have 16 league games now in a really short space of time and we're going to need all of those boys.

"We're disappointed for the supporters that we couldn't go through but we'll use the lessons from tonight that will stand us in good stead for the weeks ahead."

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