Wrexham boss on debut display of new signing Ekomie

The Gabonese international defender has joined Wrexham from Angers for an undisclosed fee and he made his debut in Friday's disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Birmingham City in the Championship.

Wrexham trailed 1-0 following a below-par first-half performance but Parkinson felt Ekomie came more into the game after the interval when the Reds levelled through Callum Doyle before conceding another poor goal.

Wing-back Ekomie, the fifth new signing of the summer was taken off after 70 minutes when Parkinson began to ring the changes.

"I think Jacques grew into the game," said the Reds' boss.

"Obviously, I had to protect him to a certain degree because of the travelling he's had this week but he did well, particularly the second-half.

"He got more of the ball in that top end of the pitch, but I felt a little bit for him because there's a certain kind of belief in the way I want us to play and I didn't think we showed enough of it.

"Some of the football, switching the play, getting into areas, particularly in that middle third of the game, was okay, it was decent.

"But when we got into the final third in the first half, it petered out to nothing and the game is about both ends of the pitch, both boxes.

"I was just frustrated with us because I'm thinking why we performed like we did."

Fellow wing-back Issa Kaboré has returned to the Racecourse on a permanent deal after spending last season on loan with Wrexham.

Brought in from Manchester City for an undisclosed fee, Burkina Faso international Kaboré replaced Danny Imray with 20 minutes to go and was an immediate threat, supplying one cross which Kieffer Moore saw saved and Sam Smith was unable to turn the lose ball over the line.

"How that has not ended up in the back of the net is an absolute mystery to me," said Parkinson. "It's a great cross, headed back and inches away from getting a goal.

"Equally Danny did well. It's a very high demanding physical position and we've just got to make sure that we've got the ability to rotate players in that position because it can be tough and I want to make sure that when we pick players, they're fresh enough to play at their optimum."

Wrexham drew their opening two league matches of the season before the first defeat against Birmingham.

With two points from three outings, the Reds sit 20th in the table heading into a busy schedule before the first international break of the season.

Wednesday's clash away to Millwall is the first of five games in 18 days and Parkinson said: "The game's come thick and fast for everybody, the fixtures are what they are so we've got to be ready to deal with that."