THERE’S been ups and downs this season but Tom O’Connor believes consistency has been key to Wrexham’s success.

Phil Parkinson’s men were crowned National League champions following a record-breaking 2022-23 campaign and were once again expected to challenge for honours on their return to the Football League.

Although they made a slow start to life in League Two, and Wrexham suffered a wobble in January after losing four successive league and cup games, the Reds have been among the frontrunners for the majority of the season and secured a top-three finish with two games to spare.

Wrexham took 88 points from their 46 games - a club record in the Football League - and O’Connor feels having a greater consistency over the course of the season paid off.

“We were one of the favourites going into this season but you look at the likes of Notts County who had such a good year last year and they fell away mid-way through this season, so it is a really good achievement,” said O’Connor, who has played his part in helping the Reds clinch back-to-back promotions for the first time in the club’s history.

“It is just having that consistency over the whole season.

“Doncaster won 10 games in a row at the end of the season. If they had a half-a-decent start to the season, they would be right up there too.

“It is having that consistency over a 46-game season.

“Teams have a good 20 games or maybe 30 games, but doing it over 46 games and being consistent throughout made a difference in the end.”

Wrexham’s longest unbeaten run stretched 11 games in all competitions while the Reds also won five games in a row at the end of the season when they hit form in the run-in and finished the job off.

There were three occasions where Parkinson’s men went three league games in a row without a victory, although only one of those spells ended with three successive defeats!

O’Connor, who made 34 league appearances and had stints playing in defence and midfield, feels Wrexham responded well to set-backs during the course of the campaign.

“Everyone knows you don’t have to win every game for it to be a successful season,” said O’Connor, who arrived at The Racecourse from Burton Albion in January 2022 for an undisclosed fee and can look forward to being back in League One next term.

“If you don’t play well or don’t get a good result, it is just keeping level-headed.

“I don’t think we went too many games without a win and that is very important.

“You can’t get too high when you are going well and can't get too low when you are losing.”