LUKE YOUNG believes Wrexham head into the new National League season in a much stronger position than they were 12 months ago.

The Reds, under new manager Phil Parkinson, made a slow start to the 2021-22 campaign and despite an improvement after the turn of the year, still trailed leaders Stockport by 11 points in March.

However, Wrexham took the title race down to the wire and after finishing runners-up to the Hatters, saw the promotion challenge finally end following a 5-4 play-off semi-final defeat to Grimsby Town.

It wasn’t the outcome Young wanted but the Wrexham captain, who has signed a new two-year contract, feels Parkinson already has a quality squad at his disposal which will only get better with the addition of new signings, with goalkeeper Mark Howard, centre-back Jordan Tunnicliffe and attacker Elliot Lee already snapped up ahead of the Reds’ 15th season non-league.

"Obviously it was disappointing the way the season ended," said the midfielder.

"When you look back over the season as a whole, from where we were at the start of the season and only appointing a manger not even a week before we were due back in for pre-season, and only having 14 players I think, we didn't sign anybody until two weeks into pre-season.

"You are never going to be able to hit the ground running as much as what you would like straight away when you have a bit of uncertainty over who is coming in and the way the manager wants to play.

"But we are in a position this year 10 times stronger than where we started pre-season last year because we have got a great platform and starting point to bring in players to only make us stronger than what we were at the end of last season."

Young, who joined Wrexham from Torquay in the summer of 2018 and is a back-to-back Player of the Season winner, says the players will be fired up to go one better in 2022-23 after last season's disappointment.

Bookmakers have installed Wrexham as big favourites for the title and Young is also aiming high.

"To get to an FA Trophy final last year and to finish second after taking the title to the final day, we were never in contention to even think about winning the league until we beat Stockport and we genuinely had a chance," said Young.

"We had the three bad results in a row at a crucial time in the season but it wasn't through not working hard and no effort; we left everything out there but sometimes it just isn't meant to be and it wasn't for us.

"The aim this year is 100 per cent to go one better and try to top of the table.

"Yes, that is probably putting a little bit of pressure on ourselves and we know it is not going to be easy. Everyone will be out to try and stop us.

"But we are going to go into it fully focussed and raring to go, and use what happened last year to have the fire in our belly to hopefully go one better."