Robins protect their next - Bristol City away
It wasn't reasonable for me to expect them to win five in a row on the road. Away at a playoff side from last season with its quality players returning from injury (and we saw them in the second half)... Two ridiculously high quality finishes and two missed sitters, and you think, "This league!"
6th in points, 7th based on goal differential. Keep grinding.
Up Next
Ipswich returns to the Racecourse on Saturday looking for revenge. Given how heavily they emphasized their focus on the league when they lost last weekend, they will have a lot of pressure on them to step up their level.
Parky
He had Mozza waxing poetic about how outstanding Wrexham were in the first half, and he was right. They controlled the ball with a strong passing game, stretched Bristol City out of shape, and got themselves a goal. Ironically, Bristol City came on with a more direct approach in the second half to nick the draw.
All in all, you don't mind getting results like this at both ends of the pitch. I don't know how Parky is supposed to tactically defeat a volley from outside the box.
Putting LOB next to Sheaf looks like a great decision. Looks like the Sheaf/James pairing...
Successful passes (through the subs when LOB moved to CAM)
All in all, the tactical model created dangerous chances (which we didn't convert) and forced them into difficult chances (which they converted).
Maybe I prefer sending on DKD up front, and leaving LOB in the holding midfield, but LOB was so disruptive up front, it is hard to blame the call. But then LOB does things like this:
No business intercepting this pass, and then making BC keep it in the corner
I really like how the box midfield collapses to punish anyone trying to play through it, and quickly transitions forward:
https://i.redd.it/fyqnf2muh5kg1.gif
Players
Arthur - Do I want Arthur to make an amazing save on one of those two elite shots? Yes, but not fair to expect it. I think he had one punch that concerned me, and he spilled a save that concerned me, but overall, I am going to let all of that go for this game saving play.
Wrexham playing for the win, almost loses the point, but Arthur to the rescue
Doyle - He had a rough second half, no doubt, but honestly, I think I he creates so much with his aggressive great touch, that when he has a poor one I just take it as the cost of doing business. When I talk about a press resistant player, this is what I mean:
https://i.redd.it/i7g9h13bg5kg1.gif
Hyam - Scotland should take this man to the World Cup. He just is so workman-like in everything, and makes great plays look routine:
Beats two guys, and starts to turn the corner to feed the box, and bam... There's Hyam.
Max - Feel like Max was kind of the opposite of Doyle in this match. He was more consistent and disciplined, even his yellow card was a disciplined one, but he didn't have the high upside plays like Doyle either.
Kabore - I thought he had a great shift. He was a threat out wide, created chances, but my favorite clip of him was thinking Sam Smith is as fast as he is!
Sam is never catching this pass!
Thomason - I can't say there weren't times I wished it was Libby and not him on the end of a few of those balls/runners out wide, but I think he continues to be better than I could reasonably expect, even if he plays it like a quality midfielder, not an attacking wide player. Here is another example of the difference:
LOB - He was my MOTM. He was everywhere, as I think I have already shown. I did want to show that when I talk about his best skill his his ability to progress the ball under pressure this is what I mean:
Sheaf - I cannot express the dread I felt when he went knee-to-knee and dropped down injured. Thankfully he was ok, and continued to do great work the rest of the way. 72 touches, only two unsuccessful. Here is the carry companion to the passing chart I showed.
Dobbo - All the xG caveats apply, but to give you a sense of how brutal Dobbo feels about his miss, it was 0.34 vs. all of BC's combined shots totaling 0.38. Feel bad for the guy. This isn't going to help him get more minutes with Vyner arriving and Jaymo apparently out of the boot already.
Rathbone - I mean, the shot, brilliant. The non-stop effort, off the charts. Poor guy deserved an assist for this hustle play, but Thomason didn't get to the back post.
https://i.redd.it/l1f9cjznr5kg1.gif
Broadhead - Could see the rust on our guy. His shot was good, but not Broady good. His passes and runs were good, but not Broady good. He will want this pass back.
https://i.redd.it/gh7pc9b6s5kg1.gif
Smith - So, the nice hold up play in the Rathbone clip is a positive. This decision on the Broady pass is bad. He is a striker. He needs to dribble that, take fewer touches, etc. Not tee it up like he is a holding midfielder and give the defender time to get in a blocking position.
Windass - Thought he was his usual boss when he came on. I realize they need to rotate him, and I am not convinced he is as 100% as he claims, but I got to think he starts on Saturday.
Moore - I think he looked pretty good when he came on, but would like more threat from him. I did like this volley, even if it was a bit overhit, this is great skill that few can do.
Posted Feb 18, 2026, 2:30 AM UTC