Former Sunderland, Southampton and England striker Kevin Phillips believes Wrexham must use their previous promotion success as the blueprint for another push towards the Premier League.
The Red Dragons fell just short of completing a remarkable fourth successive promotion after narrowly missing out on the Championship play-offs last season.
A 2-2 draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough on the final day saw Wrexham leapfrogged by Hull City, who snatched the final play-off place and consigned Phil Parkinson’s side to another season in the second tier.
The club had been aiming to complete a meteoric rise under Hollywood owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds by climbing from the National League to the Premier League in just four seasons.
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Phillips urges Wrexham to repeat promotion formula
Even though that dream was not realised, Phillips believes Wrexham already have the foundations to mount another promotion challenge but insists they must draw on the experiences that fuelled their remarkable rise through the divisions.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with BestBettingSites, he urged the Welsh outfit to focus on the positives from last season rather than dwelling on their play-off disappointment.
He said: “Every promotion I have had has always been slightly different.
“Wrexham have been on an incredible run, as we all know, had to give it a good go last season.
“What you have to do is just draw on previous experiences from what got you promoted through the leagues, and then almost got you into the play-offs last season.
“You need to build on that, and I’m sure that’s what Phil Parkinson will be telling the players.
“Coming back from pre-season, don’t harp on what happened last season.
“Think about the positives, what got you to where you were, and go again, because they’re on an incredible run at the moment.
“If you start the season well – I think they’re away to Cardiff in the first game of the league season, which isn’t always easy.
“But you’re going to have to draw on previous experiences that got you success.”
PICTURE: Cody Froggatt/PA
Phillips tells Burnley fans to give Hayen time
Phillips also urged Burnley supporters to keep an open mind over their new head coach Nicky Hayen despite admitting he was surprised by the Clarets’ appointment.
The former Genk boss succeeds Scott Parker in the Turf Moor dugout and was not the club’s clear first choice after unsuccessful pursuits of Wales head coach Craig Bellamy and former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Rob Edwards.
Reflecting on Hayen’s arrival, Phillips said: “I’m surprised. I haven’t heard of the guy.
“Just doing a bit of research on him, I think he’s had a 46% win ratio – he’s won nearly half of all his games, so it’s not too bad.
“I understand from the fans’ point of view the frustration, because you’re linked with Craig Bellamy and then all of a sudden you get someone that most of the fans have not heard of, and you think, ‘here we go again.’
“You have to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I certainly will do that.
“You never know. We’ve seen it before; foreign managers have come in and done an excellent job.
“So you’ve got to give him a bit of leeway at the start of the season, and it’ll be really interesting to see how they start the season.”
Read the full exclusive interview with Kevin Phillips at BestBettingSites
READ MORE: Can Nicky Hayen lead Burnley back to the Premier League?
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