PHIL PARKINSON hailed Wrexham’s 1-1 draw at Championship promotion hopefuls Leicester as evidence of how far his side have come.
Substitute Nathan Broadhead’s equaliser in the 77th minute extended the visitors’ unbeaten run to four games in all competitions.
Lewis O’Brien got the better of Jannik Vestergaard on the right flank and crossed for forward Broadhead, a club-record signing from Ipswich in August, to fire home.
It was another milestone for the Reds, who clinched a record-breaking three successive promotions to return to the second tier for the first time in 43 years.
“It was a great night for us,” Parkinson said. “I’m immensely proud of the performance.
"We have come to a club that nine years ago were winning the Premiership title and we were languishing mid-table in the National League.
“To be on the same stage as them and to play as well as we did is a great tribute to a lot of people at the club.
“It’s another strong performance from us at this level."
Although Leicester had the majority of possession in the first half and hit the post, Wrexham also came close to going ahead with Kieffer Moore and O'Brien presented with two excellent opportunities.
The chances dried up for the Foxes after the break and with Reds substitutes making a difference after they came on, the visitors were rewarded when Broadhead levelled.
Parkinson was pleased with the performance from start to finish.
"We had some great chances first half," he said. "Lewis, Kieffer, Josh Windass had two chances.
"We had some big moments and we just said to the lads, make sure we stick to the structure and the game plan we worked on.
"Let's not come away from that because if we do, we believe we've got talent in the team.
"They had balls slash across our six-yard in the first-half but the execution of the game plan was very good, with and without the ball.
"We doubled up on their wide players terrifically well because they have got real talent in those areas and with the ball, we looked dangerous and we got better as the game went on.
"We had periods in the first half but second half, I thought we restricted them to very little and looked like we could go and win the game.
"Nathan was unlucky not to get a second goal."
Leicester took the lead in the 36th minute when Wales international Jordan James played a one-two with Patson Daka before firing past Arthur Okonkwo.
Lewis Brunt committed himself and was beaten to the first ball by James but he and his team-mates defended superbly against a Foxes side oozing quality and deserved a draw.
"The actual structure of the team and the way we set up was great, but it's the moments of not getting done on a one-two or not selling yourself," added Parkinson.
"It's key moments against really good players, and that's the great thing for our lads learning against real talent on the pitch.
"Get tight, make sure you don't dive in, and there were one or two moments like that where they exposed us, but we got better and better."
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