PHIL PARKINSON expects his players to come back in tip-top shape when they return for pre-season training next month.

Long gone are the days of summer-bingeing with the Reds boss revealing that all players were given individual fitness programmes to carry out during the close season.

Wrexham players are back in on July 4 and Reds boss Parkinson said: “We’re keeping track on what the players are doing and our sports science team gave them individual programmes to carry out.

“They’ll be back in a good physical state and ready for the first week in training.”

Wrexham will then have just a month to prepare for the first game of the season on August 6 when they will begin another bid to escape from non-league football.

“We’ll look forward to the new season,” added Parkinson. “Everyone was disappointed at how the season ended but it will make us more determined this time around."

Max Cleworth - Wrexham's young player of the season - agrees and he said: "The season is done now, it is in the past and we have to learn from it.

"But it has given us that bit of extra motivation to do it all again and go one step further and hopefully clinch that promotion.

"It just adds more fuel to the fire to kick-on next year, make the fans proud and bring a bit of success to Wrexham."

Wrexham are preparing for a 15th season in non-league following last month’s heartbreaking 5-4 defeat against Grimsby in the play-off semi-final.

The fixtures are due to be released on July 6 and all three National League divisions begin on the same day, as the fixture calendar returns to its traditional August-April slot, having been adjusted in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in recent seasons.

The final day of the regular league season is Saturday April 29, 2023 before the play-offs get underway, with the fifth tier promotion final being held on Saturday May 13, 2023.