Wrexham's League Two promotion hopes hit by shock home defeat

Wrexham's promotion hopes took a surprise hit as Tranmere Rovers earned a shock 1-0 win at the Racecourse Ground.

The Red Dragons, owned Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are bidding to reach League One at the first time of asking, having returned to the EFL last summer after an epic National League promotion battle with Notts County.

But Phil Parkinson's side, unbeaten in their previous four games, fell behind early against Tranmere - Luke Norris the goalscorer after good work from Regan Hendry - and they were unable to get back into the game despite raining 25 shots down on goal.

"We had some great moments where we needed to do better, we need to look at that," Parkinson said at full-time. "To have 25 attempts on goal, I don't think many teams will have had that, but only four were on target which is not enough for the quality we've got.

"Football is all about taking chances and we weren't able to do that."

Despite the defeat, Wrexham remain in the final automatic promotion place, ahead of Milton Keynes Dons on goal difference. They are level on points with Stockport County, who have a superior goal difference and have two games in hand, and trail league leaders Mansfield Town by five points.

Crewe Alexandra are also in the hunt for automatic promotion but failed to capitalise on Wrexham's defeat after losing 3-1 at MK Dons - Matt Dennis' brace and a third from Stephen Wearne enough to earn maximum points for the home side.

How does promotion and relegation work in League Two?

In the Championship and League One, three teams earn promotion to the division above - two automatically and one through the lottery of the play-offs. Things work a little bit differently in League Two, however, with an extra side afforded the luxury of going up.

The play-offs are therefore contested by the teams who finish fourth to seventh in the division.

2023/24 League Two table

READ MORE ON THE 2023/24 PLAY-OFF HUNT THROUGHOUT THE EFL