Wrexham: Steven Fletcher will not be offered new contract

Fletcher made 73 league appearances and scored 16 goals – eight in each season – and earned a reputation as a super sub when he was brought on by Parkinson who had nothing but praise for the veteran frontman,

“It was a tough decision, Fletch has done great for us,” said Parkinson.

When you look back two years ago when we brought him in, he hadn’t done a pre-season and he might have been thinking that he would stop playing at that point.

“But he came in and he’s made a really good contribution for us, and I thank him for that.

“He scored some really important goals and shown a great professionalism for us as well.”

Wrexham finished runners-up in League One this term, securing an historic third successive promotion and place in the Championship for the first time in 43 years.

Clubs in the second tier are limited to a 25-man squad and that includes goalkeepers or players who were aged 21 or over at the start of the calendar year.

Parkinson, left with 27 first-team players on the books after announcing his retained list, wants new signings for when Wrexham make the step-up a division next season and come up up against the likes of Southampton and Leicester City.

That means it was inevitable some players like Fletcher weren’t going to be offered new deals and the Reds’ boss admits others who are under contract will also move on as he attempts to make the numbers add up.

“We have got 27 players under contract and we can only name 25 in the squad, including goalkeepers,” he added.

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“No decision is ever easy but the challenge of the numbers this season is going to be just as hard as last year.

“Last year’s squad was 22 players in League One without the keepers and we had Mo Faal and Seb Revan who didn’t count.

“This year it’s 25 players which includes the keepers, while Mo and Seb are back in that equation.

“Of course there will be movement as well to create some places because we have got to try and look to create spaces to build a squad which is competitive in this next division.”