Key events
16 min: Joshua Quarshie, signed from Hoffenheim, lurches forward. Hard not to think of Nigel Quashie, to be quite honest.
14 min: Flynn Downes and Ryan Fraser running the show in midfield. Both fine players at this level for whom the Premier League was maybe too large a step. That’s no disgrace, they’re fine players, and Fraser has been decent in the PL. Downes is still young, too.
12 min: Chance now for Wellington on the burst from wing-back, but he boots wide….at the other end Josh Windass launches the Windass special, beloved of father and son, and forces a fine save from Bazunu. We are so back.
11 min: Fraser’s ball goes to the back post but Jay Robinson is too wide of an angle. Was there a foul on Tyler Dibling? He’ll be a marked young man for however long he remains in the Championship.
9 min: Saints, as you would expect under Will Still, play an attractive style, a modern style, high press and all that jazz.
7 min: Wrexham, after that slow start, are in gear. Phil Parkinson-ball in full effect…Conor Coady volleys over after a short corner. That was well worked. The training ground in full effect. Coady might have done better from Windass’ ball.
6 min: Lewis O’Brien, once of Nottingham Forest, is penalised for a foul. Yes, it’s the Champo and we are in full thud and blunder mode already. What did we do without it?
4 min: First Wrexham attack, Josh Windass runs on, and Kieffer Moore is the target. Afternoon, grapple fans, he tussles with Ronnie Edwards but no dice; he rather flopped to the floor.
2 min: Shea Charles, loaned to Sheff Wed last season, is to the fore for Saints. Wrexham having to defend deep and in numbers.
Away we go!
1 min: Phil Parkinson takes a seat on top of the drinks bin as he awaits kickoff. The weather – pretty decent. Lots of noise from those who travelled all the way from North Wales. Ryan Fraser, a fine player at this level, sets off on a mazy run.
Fernandes and Dibling being in the Saints squad reminds there’s much of the transfer window to come; what will these teams’ lineups look like in Southampton.
The teams take to the field, and there’s two Tifos. In the Wrexham end, a celebration of the late club legend Joey Jones, and in the home end, a large banner that features Matt Le Tissier in the centre.
Six new signings start for Wrexham: Ward, Coady, Cacace, O’Brien, Windass, Moore all feature. Ryan Hardie, a summer arrival from Plymouth, starts on the bench.
A back five for Southampton. Mateus Fernandes is on the bench with Everton target Flynn Downes fit to start. Adam Armstrong leads the line with Ryan Fraser and Jay Robinson on either side of him.
The teams
Southampton: Bazunu, Sugawara, Edwards, Stephens, Welington, Downes, Charles, Fraser, Robinson, Armstrong, Quarshie. Subs: McCarthy, Wood-Gordon, Manning, Matsuki, Fernandes, Brereton Diaz, Archer, Stewart, Downs.
Wrexham: Ward, Cleworth, Coady, Brunt, Barnett, Dobson, Matty James, Cacace, Windass, O’Brien, Moore. Subs: Okonkwo, O’Connell, McClean, Hardie, Evans, Smith, Lee, Ashfield, Longman.
Referee: James Bell (Yorkshire)
That doesn’t prevent us linking to Ben Fisher’s Championship preview.
The Championship is already underway, with last night’s rather stodgy affair.
Interview with Will Still, the new Southampton manager, someone with a very different background.
Couple of stats here to show how far Wrexham have come. They haven’t played in the second tier since 1982.
This is the first meeting in any competition between Southampton and Wrexham since the 1979-80 League Cup second round, when Saints won 5-0 at home and 3-0 away in a two-legged tie.
The last league encounter between Southampton and Wrexham was in April 1960 in the third tier, with the Welsh side winning 2-1 through goals from Ron Harbertson and Bernard Evans.
Preamble
Welcome to Southampton, welcome to the Championship, Wrexham. Here comes the latest season, as Disney visits Southampton, as it regularly does with cruise ships. Southampton are under the new management of Will Still, the club’s latest appointment of a progressive manager. Phil Parkinson is in charge of Wrexham, and he’s added a few players to the cast list you may – or may not, depending on your streaming package – you recognise. Saints aim to return to the Premier League after being all but relegated by September last season. For Wrexham, the Premier League represents a season finale on the level of Game of Thrones Red Wedding or Big Pussy’s ride on Tony Soprano’s boat. It all starts here.
Kick-off at 12.30pm. Join me.
