Why Phil Parkinson faces a dilemma over his Wrexham squad

Phil Parkinson faces a decision over his Wrexham squad after overseeing a record-breaking January transfer window.

Co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney green-lit an unprecedented spend on one player when the club broke the £1m barrier to land Reading striker Sam Smith.

That was followed by the addition of Premier League stalwart Jay Rodriguez to add further spark to the League One promotion-chasers' forward line.

Both came on the back of the signing of Hull City wideman Ryan Longman to bolster Parkinson's squad and their bid for an historic third straight promotion campaign.

But it now means Parkinson faces a dilemma because of English Football League (EFL) squad rules.

Following the end of a transfer window, clubs must submit squads for registration, with only those players named eligible to play in league fixtures.

And in the bottom two tiers they are restricted to naming a maximum of 22 players on the list.

That does not include goalkeepers, or players who qualified for under-21 football at the turn of the year – such as Seb Revan and Modou Faal, as well as local youth product Harry Ashfield, 18, who grabbed his first senior goal in Tuesday's EFL Trophy win over Port Vale.

But, illustrated by the 10 changes made at Vale Park, it still means Wrexham have a surplus of squad members, with 23 senior pros – meaning one has to miss out.

It is not the first time Wrexham have been posed such a problem with Billy Waters missing out last season, and Anthony Forde not named at the start of the current campaign, explaining why he was only permitted to feature in EFL Trophy fixtures before his release from his contract on deadline day.

Wrexham did make some room with midfielder James Jones' move to Burton, but there were no other significant outgoings in the final days of the window.

That's despite interest in frontman Ollie Palmer, who made it clear he was keen to remain at the Racecourse despite Wrexham now carrying seven strikers.

Parkinson can still add free agents to his list after the closure of the window, such was the case when midfielder Matty James was signed.

But the former Leicester City man now has to be among the 22, meaning Parkinson must decide which player will miss out from the squad charged with trying to jump ahead of Wycombe Wanderers into the third tier's automatic promotion spots.