EOGHAN O’CONNELL says Wrexham are comfortable adopting an ‘underdog tag’ when the new League One season gets underway.

O’Connell has been a vital part of the Reds’ backline during back-to-back promotion-winning campaigns and Wrexham are now preparing to compete in the third tier for the first time in almost two decades.

Wrexham are one of the favourites for promotion this season but although O’Connell is setting his sights high, he knows the step-up with not be easy for Phil Parkinson’s men.

“I have played in League One a lot in my career and it seems to be getting better each year,” said the former Charlton Athletic and Rochdale defender.

“It will be a really tough league this year.

“We are coming up and there is all that outside expectation but we will just do what we always do.

“There’s a number of very big clubs now and there’s probably 10, 11 teams who think they’re going to be in and around it and I think it’s just such a long season.

“You can’t really get carried away about different kind of peaks and troughs in the season.

“I think you just have to try and find a level of consistency and we’ll be looking to do that.

“We’re probably not the big team in the league anymore going into it, but I think that’s okay too. We’re happy to kind of have the underdog tag.”

O’Connell says it’s vital not to look too far ahead as the Reds prepare for Saturday’s opener against Wycombe Wanderers at The STōK Racecourse.

“At the start of the season, you just look at the first game and we take it from there,” added O’Connell.

“You saw last season that we didn’t start great but we just stayed calm so hopefully this year we can change that and start a bit better, and just see where we go.

“I think last year was kind of a bit different to the National League campaign, where obviously we had one or two runs last year where things weren’t going well.

“And, I think that’s the job, I suppose, of the experienced players then to make sure everyone stays level-headed.

“I think, you know, when you’re winning all the time, everyone comes in and it’s great, but I think the real test is how you can be when things aren’t going great and can you stay level-headed and keep everyone together?

“And I think that’s what we did really well last year and even the year before.

“I think, just stay on an even keel and keep trying to perform well and, then, I think the results follow that.”