THE standard of football in League Two is everything Phil Parkinson expected but he believes Wrexham are making good progress,

Back in the Football League following a 15-year absence, Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Barrow leaves the 16th placed Reds with six points from the opening five matches.

Wrexham haven’t struggled to score at a higher level but have shipped goals at the other end of the pitch - something that Parkinson was pleased to rectify at Barrow.

Elliot Lee put Wrexham ahead in the 12th minute with his fifth goal in as many league matches but despite dominating the first half, the Reds failed to build on their lead.

The Bluebirds were on top after the break and quickly levelled but Wrexham left with a point and Parkinson looked at the positives after conceding five goals the previous weekend when his side came from 4-1 down to draw 5-5 against Swindon.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup second round tie against League Two rivals Bradford City at The STóK Cae Ras, Parkinson said: “We know we are not quite firing at our best.

“We have got some really good players to come back into the frame and when they do, we are going to be a real force.

“We are not at full strength, we are not where we want to be in terms of personnel and we have been punished at home.

“When you look at the last game against Swindon, eight attempts for them and five have gone in the back of the net; that is quite rare for that to happen. We are not making excuses at all because we have looked at the areas as a team that we need to improve on.

“It was a strong performance against Barrow from the back three and Mark Howard, but defending as a team is not just the back three - it is everybody - and I thought we were tighter all over the pitch.”

Goalkeeper Howard replaced Ben Foster who announced his retirement following the Swindon thriller.

“Mark was good but he is a solid keeper,” he added. “I had no qualms about him playing, he is very experienced and he showed that.”