Mark Howard has hailed “amazing” Phil Parkinson as Wrexham prepares for the upcoming League One season.

Howard, who played under Parkinson at Wanderers between 2016 and 2018, reunited with Parkinson at the Racecourse Ground a couple of years ago.

Since then, the Red Dragons have won back-to-back promotions from the National League under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Howard, who has been offered a new deal to remain at Wrexham, told The Leader: "(Parkinson) is amazing. Phil and his staff lean on the players all the time, it’s a team effort and they encourage us to offer our views.

"Often we have played in the stadium before, with or against opposition players, so you can help with video analysis. It’s things like, ‘This player likes to do this’ or ‘This is their key attribute’.

"They are constantly looking for little nuggets to get results. We are really competitive with stuff like that as a club, we want to get one over opposition teams. 

"The manager has played such a big role in our success. He just gets it."

Parkinson spent three years in the Bolton hot seat, overseeing a memorable victory against Nottingham Forest on the final day of the 2017/18 campaign to avoid relegation from the Championship.

However, the Whites went down 12 months later amid big problems off the pitch and the 56-year-old stepped down.

Parkinson, who also had spells in charge at Sunderland, Bradford and Charlton among others, has learnt a lot in management over the years.

“I would like to say I’m calmer but probably not,” he added. “I think I have probably learnt to enjoy the job a lot more.

“When you start managing, it is an absolute whirlwind. You can’t believe how all-encompassing managing is, it really does take over your life. It is non-stop.

“Sometimes when I was at Colchester, I was in every single day of the week. I never had a day off.

“But as I have grown more experienced, I have learned you have to have those days away so you have time to reflect and let decisions come to you more. I think that is probably the biggest aspect.”