Ollie Palmer: Wrexham striker savouring starting record after understanding team role

Ollie Palmer feels he is reaping the rewards of being patient after Wrexham maintained their stunning run with the striker in their starting line-up.

The victory also means Wrexham maintain their record of not having lost a league match in which Palmer has started this season.

Asked about the record, Palmer said: “Not just this season.”

He added: “It’s good to be involved, I know my role within the team.”

Palmer’s outing at Morecambe was his 17th league start of the 2023-24 campaign, with Wrexham unbeaten in those fixtures.

Indeed, the Dragons have not lost the previous 42 league matches when the forward has started – a run stretching back to a 1-0 defeat at Notts County in October 2022.

And Palmer, 32, believes a month spent on the sidelines with injury over the festive period has helped him maintain his remarkable record.

“Everyone wants to play but we’ve got a big squad,” he added.

“With hindsight maybe it’s been nice to have a bit of a rest to come back flying and trying to help the team as much as I can now.”

Goals from James McClean, Paul Mullin and Steven Fletcher earned Wrexham all three points at Morecambe after Ged Garner had given the hosts an early lead.

The victory came after Wrexham had won only one of their last seven League Two matches away from home.

But Palmer is not concerned by talk of Wrexham’s struggles on the road this term.

“I don’t think our away form is as bad as people make out,” he explained.

“If you’re going to refer to yourselves as one of the top teams in the league, obviously we want to try and be right up there, but we’re probably seventh or eighth in the [away] form table, which is not horrendous.

“If you want to get to where we want to get to, we know we’ve got to better that.

“We have fantastic home form, but you can’t have everything.”

Wrexham return to action against Harrogate Town at the Racecourse on Tuesday night.

Parkinson’s men boast the best home record in the fourth tier having won 13 of the 17 League Two matches on their own patch so far this season.

And Palmer says that with 10 matches of the regular season remaining, the Wrexham squad can relish the run-in.

“A big 10 games to go and it’s really important that everyone stays tuned in and fit,” he added.