Wrexham boss Parkinson claims ref apologised for Blades leveller

Phil Parkinson says he received an apology for a “key moment” match officials missed in Wrexham’s EFL Cup exit at the hands of Championship Sheffield United.

League One Wrexham bowed out of the competition after a first-round defeat at Bramall Lane despite taking the lead through Will Boyle.

But manager Parkinson claimed a “blatant” block on Boyle led to United’s leveller through Auston Trusty 10 minutes from half-time – and that referee Keith Stroud held his hands up ahead of the second-half.

The north Wales club’s boss says that Chris Wilder’s men are well-known for being potent at set-plays, admitting: “They work at them, we knew that and you can make the players aware of (blocking) but you need help from the officials.

“It’s clear and right in front of him. The referee apologised at half-time; someone must have told him because he said sorry he didn’t see it.

“But he needs help from the linesman and fourth official because we all saw it.

“In the Premier League with VAR you don’t get away with it, but unfortunately it was a key moment for us.

“Goals change games and we gave them a huge lift and we can do better in certain moments.

"It’s a good work out for us, we never like getting beat in any game, but we will take the lessons from it.”