Nathan Broadhead takes plaudits as Wrexham progress

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was full of superlatives for Nathan Broadhead as he scored the crucial goals to beat Reading 2-0 and secure their place in the Carabao Cup fourth round.

After a slow first half, the hosts found the breakthrough just before the hour mark with Broadhead curling a shot into the far corner. The Wales international netted his second in the 70th minute, bundling in from close range.

“I spoke to the lads yesterday that on the journey the club is on, it is about creating bits of history along the way,” said Parkinson. “It is fantastic, and I am really pleased to get through.

“No game is ever easy and Reading showed tonight what good young players they have got. That academy has kept that club going over the last few troubled years they have had.

“We had a lot of players who needed the game, we changed the shape, and we have limited time to work on it with this group.

“Second half we pressed with more intent, and we played with more positivity in our play ourselves. We looked dangerous and it was a good transformation, one which you probably expect.

“He (Broadhead) is a match-winner, there is no doubt about that, and you can see first half he was probably trying too hard.

“Second half we got him the ball and that is key, we have to trust him with the ball and we have to serve him in those pockets because not many players have his quality.”

Reading’s best effort came early on from Kamari Doyle, who from a tight angle managed to rattle the outside of the post.

Boss Noel Hunt said: “I thought we dominated the game, we limited them to very little and kept doing the same things we did in the first half.

“The first goal we switched off a little bit from the set-play and the second goal is an unfortunate ricochet.

“We still created enough chances in the game to be one or two up in the first half, and still in the second half we had one or two chances more to get us back in the game.

“On the whole, I am disappointed with the result but I am delighted with the effort from the boys.

“The team we put out there and how we dealt with them and their direct play, I thought we were fantastic.

“Obviously, we picked up a few (injuries) on the weekend so it was a new back four and a young one, but they showed great character and great bravery.

“I thought at the end of the game we didn’t get desperate to score but everyone wanted to get into the box.”