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FA Trophy final: Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson cautious with play-offs in mind
- By Aled Williams
- BBC Sport Wales
Image source, Getty Images
FA Trophy Final: Wrexham v Bromley |
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Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Sunday, 22 May Kick-off:16:15 BST |
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio London, BBC Sport online. Match report on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Manager Phil Parkinson says Wrexham are focused on the FA Trophy final but have the play-offs in the back of their minds.
Wrexham lost out to Stockport County in the race for automatic promotion from the National League last Sunday.
Parkinson's men face Bromley at Wembley on Sunday before a home play-off semi-final the following weekend.
"We are focused purely on Sunday," former Sunderland and Bradford City boss Parkinson said.
"However we have a few niggles and I certainly wouldn't risk anybody in this game to the detriment of the following weekend."
Wrexham lost to Dagenham & Redbridge on the final day of the regular season, but automatic promotion was out of their hands regardless as Stockport beat Halifax to clinch the title.
Parkinson has been pleased with how his squad have responded following last Sunday's disappointment.
"Obviously it knocks you as a group," Parkinson said. "You could see that the lads had the stuffing knocked out of them.
"But there's no better game to look forward to and I'm really pleased we've got this game before going into the play-offs to get that out of our system.
"Without this game we probably would have organised either an in-house game or a game because you wouldn't want the team to go two weeks without playing."
Wrexham will face Notts County or Grimsby Town in the play-offs semi-final, with the final at West Ham's London Stadium on Sunday, 5 June.
But Wrexham will be looking to go into the play-offs on the back of an FA Trophy win having beaten Gloucester City, Folkestone Invicta, Boreham Wood, Notts County and Stockport to reach Wembley
"For everyone promotion is the priority, but with the FA Trophy, as we've progressed through the rounds, it gathered more momentum," Parkinson added.
"I think the magnitude of the win against Stockport captured the imagination of the Wrexham fans and everybody connected with the clubs.
"Playing at Wembley is huge for the players, the staff and every one of our supporters."