WREXHAM suffered a 2-0 defeat in their final pre-season friendly against Caernarfon Town but Steve Parkin considered it a valuable work-out for the players on show.

None of the players who started the 4-0 victory over Macclesfield were involved at The Oval although Jordan Tunnicliffe and Liam McAlinden, who appeared as second half substitutes on Saturday, were named in the side and joined by six more first-teamers – Christian Dibble, Bryce Hosannah, Harry Lennon, Jordan Davies, Dior Angus and Elliot Lee.

The likes of Davies, Hosannah, Lennon and Lee got a welcome run-out after missing part of pre-season through injury and Wrexham, who finished the contest with a young team, came up against a fired up Cymru Premier League outfit who scored two second half goals to secure a deserved victory.

It was the last warm-up game before Wrexham kick-off a 15th campaign with a home fixture against Eastleigh on Saturday and assistant manager Parkin felt it was the kind of match the Reds needed.

“I was a little bit disappointed with both goals,” said Parkin.

“And first half certainly, we didn’t pass the ball with enough precision and quick enough.

“They were difficult conditions in terms of the pitch and it was a little bit windy but no excuses.

“The key thing is when we arranged this game, we knew it would be a good game for us because five or six players definitely need more minutes through no fault of their own due to injuries and little niggles.

“From that perspective it was a good work-out against a team that was motivated, and it ended up being a very competitive game which is exactly what we wanted.

“We didn’t want a game where we ran out comfortable winners and the lads didn’t get a proper physical work-out but they certainly got that.

“Full credit to Caernarfon, they played very well and probably deserved to win.”