FORMER Wales boss Mark Hughes is full of praise for the work that’s been going on at Wrexham, describing it as “phenomenal”.

Hughes, who hails from Ruabon, was part of the BBC One Match of the Day panel for yesterday’s FA Cup clash between the Reds and Sheffield United.

He said: “Well, the impact the guys (Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney) have had since they’ve come in has been phenomenal.

“I’m a Wrexham boy, I’m just from three miles down the road and goodness me, everybody’s just talking about these guys.”

Joining Hughes, presenter Gary Lineker and former England striker Alan Shearer before kick-off was Reynolds, who said the project would be a “multi-decades” one. “It’s a great story,” added Hughes.

“I’ve been aware of it for the last couple of years because obviously... my family still lives in the area and what they’ve done and impact they’ve had is huge.

“You see their engagement with the fans.

“I think that’s the big thing that they’ve been able to do so well and that’s the reason that they’re getting such good levels of goodwill towards them.”

Shearer added: “I think that’s the hugely important thing. What the guys are doing is actually engaging with the community.

“Everyone’s on board and they’re so excited - and so they should be.”

Lineker, who scored 48 goals for England, was full of praise for the crowd during the build-up.

“The atmosphere as well. We’ve just got a kind of feeling of it. I mean, it’s a small ground and actually, normally, when there’s one side of the stadium that’s empty, it takes away from it.

“But it doesn’t seem to here.”

Hughes was pleased to hear Reynolds and McElhenney are at the club for the long haul.

“That was the worry initially that they were just coming here to maybe film a couple of Netflix series and then disappear over the sunset,” added Hughes. “But clearly they’ve got an emotional connection to the place now, so that’s really great for everybody.”