Former Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson wants to “have a go” at League One this season with Wrexham.

The Welsh club are preparing for life in the third tier following back-to-back promotions from the National League under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Parkinson is relishing the step up in quality and doesn’t mind having the “underdog card” to play at times.

“Everything at your football club has got to improve to match those standards we’re going to come up against,” he told BBC Sport.

“But that’s the challenge we worked hard to achieve and now it’s up to us to face it full on with a really positive mindset.

“We’re really excited to have a go at the division. There's an expectancy on a lot of other clubs in this division.

"Birmingham, Bolton, Huddersfield and all those teams are going to be under huge pressure to produce this season.

"I think having that underdog card to play at times won't do us any harm. But we've got to go about our business with real clarity with what we want to achieve in terms of the squad, and we'll see if that makes us competitive."

Parkinson is already familiar with the challenges of League One football, having guided the Whites to automatic promotion in 2016/17.

“With the teams coming down it’s always difficult to assess them because they’ll lose players and they’ll bring players in,” he continued.

“There’s a lot of movement in teams like Birmingham, Huddersfield and Rotherham already so it’s difficult to assess.

“But the top games at this level are like Championship games from my experience managing here. Obviously the athleticism goes up a notch, the quality improves.”

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