Wrexham end Southampton's unbeaten run with statement home win

Wrexham snap Southampton's streak at the Racecourse Ground

Wrexham produced their most significant result of the season on Saturday, beating an in-form Southampton side 2-1 at the Racecourse Ground to end the visitors' five-match unbeaten run and claim their first home win of the campaign.

The result carried extra resonance given Southampton had thrashed the Welsh club 5-1 at the same venue back in April. Expectations remain sky-high in north Wales, fuelled by the club's global profile and significant squad investment, but this season has so far been an inconsistent one for Phil Parkinson's side.

"That was only their second win of the season and they have probably come under pressure for the first time. Last season they were outstanding and, personally I think overachieved and the level of expectation has risen as a result but the team has not quite lived up to it," former Peterborough United and Hull City striker Aaron McLean told BBC Sport.

McLean believes the win over one of the division's form teams will do wonders for Wrexham's confidence, even if he is not yet ready to back them for automatic promotion.

"Do I think Wrexham are a candidate for automatic promotion? Probably not, but that win against Southampton will give them huge confidence. To beat Southampton, as one of the in-form teams in the division, will do them and Phil Parkinson no end of good.

"They need to be more clinical. You look at West Ham – 22 goals; Middlesbrough – 16 goals. You look at the top end of the pitch and they have the players who can find ways to kill games off. Wrexham have drawn four games because they have not been able to kill games off but, if they are in the shake-up, I would not bet against their owners in January saying, 'right, let's go and get the missing piece of the puzzle'."

A springboard for what lies ahead?

The win lifts the mood around a side that had drawn too many games this term, and McLean's assessment raises an intriguing possibility: if Wrexham remain in the promotion shake-up come January, the club's ambitious owners may be tempted to make another statement signing to fix the cutting edge that has been missing.