Wrexham

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All English Football League games across a four-day period in February will begin one minute late to raise awareness for the Every Minute Matters campaign.

The initiative will be in place for 36 matches across the Championship, League One and League Two between 5 and 9 February.

EFL sponsor Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have been working together since May 2024 to highlight the importance of speed when it comes to performing live-saving CPR.

Later kick-off times will serve as "a stark reminder that every minute matters", the EFL said.

Bristol Rovers defender Tom Lockyer collapsed while playing for Luton Town eight minutes into the Championship play-off final against Coventry in May 2023.

Lockyer then suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch seven months later during a Premier League game at Bournemouth.

"What happened to me can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time," said Lockyer, who is now a BHF ambassador.

"Every year, more than 40,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and most of them never make it home.

"I'm here today because of the transformative power of CPR as every minute matters when it comes to saving a life.

"This February, we want everyone to get behind this life-saving initiative, learn the skills and be ready to step in because your actions could give someone else the chance I was given."

Throughout February, the Every Minute Matters campaign will call on fans to learn CPR using the BHF's online RevivR, external tool.

"Each minute without CPR reduces a person's chance of survival, so we're urging fans to learn the skills now, before you ever need them," said Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF.

EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch added: "The one minute kick-off adjustment is a simple, powerful reminder that swift CPR can be the difference between life and death."

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Phil Parkinson says Lewis O'Brien's energy levels are of "top Premier League" standard following his impressive display in Wrexham's 1-1 draw with Leicester City.

O'Brien netted his fourth goal of the season shortly after the hour mark at Stok Cae Ras as the hosts looked on course for victory on Tuesday night.

But the Foxes bagged a late equaliser, with Jannik Vestergaard's 90th-minute strike ensuring the points were shared.

O'Brien was among the standout performers for the Red Dragons, and manager Parkinson says he has been hugely impressed with the midfielder's energy since he joined the club from Nottingham Forest last summer.

"He's got four goals, he's got assists and I thought he was great [against Leicester]," said Parkinson.

"The way he set the press off for us, him and [Ollie] Rathbone, it was just what we needed against them, especially in these conditions.

"The amount of times he pressed the ball and won it back, and when he goes, he goes at such pace.

"He got goals early in the season then he's had a spell where they haven't gone in for him, but a lot of those chances he's created himself with his pressing.

"He's a great little player, his energy is completely off the scale. His running stats are top Premier League, never mind Championship."

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Phil Parkinson was pleased with Wrexham's response to their 2-1 loss to Norwich City despite conceding late on in their 1-1 draw with Leicester City.

The Red Dragons looked on course for victory over Marti Cifuentes' outfit as Lewis O'Brien bagged his fourth goal of the season in the 63rd minute.

But the Foxes snatched a point in the 90th minute as Jannik Vestergaard fired beyond Arthur Okonkwo.

"You take the moment at the end out of it, I'd be saying it was a really gritty, hard-working performance and a great response from the weekend," said Parkinson.

"But the gloss is taken off it because we haven't dealt with a ball into the box."

Such was Wrexham's control on proceedings, Leicester's late goal was their only strike on target after they went behind in north Wales.

"We're frustrated but apart from one counter attacking moment in the second half, we weren't troubled in the whole night," added Parkinson.

"There was a silence at the end because I think everybody knew that we've deserved the three points, but you sometimes don't get what you deserve.

"But we've got to make sure that we concentrate right to the end."

Despite failing to hold on for victory, the draw lifted Wrexham up to ninth in the Championship table - moving them to within two points of the play-off places.

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Wrexham midfielder Matty James said Leicester City are a club "close to my heart" but insists he is determined to secure three points against his former side in the Championship on Tuesday evening.

James, who has signed a new contract to remain at Wrexham until the summer of 2027, spent nine years with the Foxes and made 117 appearances for the East Midlands club.

He was with Leicester when they won the Premier League in 2016 but missed the whole campaign due to injury.

"It's a club that I hold close to my heart and having had the reception that I got at the away game, it's always nice to play against them," James said.

"But certainly for us, we're looking to try and get them three points on the night."

Both Wrexham and Leicester will be looking to bounce back after defeats on Saturday - Wrexham lost 2-1 at home to Norwich City while Leicester were beaten by league leaders Coventry City.

Relegated from the Premier League last season, Leicester have had an inconsistent season on the pitch while also experiencing off the field financial issues.

Martí Cifuentes' side are currently 13th in the Championship table – three points behind 10th placed Wrexham and six points off the play-off spots.

"I think they'll probably be expecting more from themselves," James added.

"I think there's things going on, and off the pitch at the moment, which is not nice to see."

James believes Leicester have what it takes to climb up the table and will pose a strong challenge for his current side.

"I think for us, we just focus on ourselves and make sure that we're prepared for the game. They've got good players and we have to respect that," he said.

"Hopefully, we can go out there and put on a great performance and get three points.

"The Championship's ticking fast, the games come round quickly. It's a good opportunity for us at home on Tuesday night."

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Max Cleworth insists he "knew nothing about" reported interested from Aston Villa as he committed his long-term future to Wrexham.

The defender is tied to Wrexham until at least 2029 after signing a new contract at the Stok Cae Ras last week.

The new deal came after Cleworth had been linked with a move to Premier League Villa – but the 23-year-old insisted that was merely a coincidence.

Phil Parkinson last week played down the Villa speculation – and Cleworth has followed suit.

"I genuinely didn't know anything about it," he said.

"It was always about committing to the club for me. It took a bit of time to get the deal done but me, obviously my family, my agent - it was all we were pushing to do."

Cleworth has played a significant role in Wrexham's rise from the National League to the Championship having come through the academy after signing for the club aged 12.

The Frodsham-born centre-back also spent six months on loan at Caernarfon Town in 2021.

He has started all but one of Wrexham's 27 league games this season and will expect to retain his place when Parkinson's side host Leicester City on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

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Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson says his side will need to "reset" following their defeat to Norwich City as they prepare to host Leicester City on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

Last Saturday's home loss to the Canaries ended Wrexham's run of four consecutive league wins.

Parkinson's side are 10th in the Championship and three points off the play-off spots as they take on 13th-placed Leicester.

"Games come quickly, which is a good thing when you haven't got the result you wanted, and we'll move on to Leicester," Parkinson said.

"Leicester have got good players and obviously a lot of players were with them last year in the Premier League, so we've got to respect that.

"I think from our point of view, it's about rebooting our performance level, or resetting, whatever you want to say, to where it has been."

Parkinson added: "In patches, we played well at the weekend, but in patches there were two periods of the game where we didn't do well enough.

"There were some good periods in the game, but like we said to the lads today, to win a game of football at any level, in particular this division, we've got to get back to the consistency of performance that we've shown recently."

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Leicester City will seek to end a winless midweek streak dating back to 2024 as they head to Wrexham on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

The Foxes allowed an early lead to slip to a 2-1 defeat at Championship leaders Coventry on Saturday. City's third straight league defeat on the road left them 13th but only six points adrift of the play-off places.

The Red Dragons are three places and three points better off, despite seeing a 10-match unbeaten home run ended by a 2-1 defeat to Norwich last time out.

• Wrexham remain winless in seven Football League games against Leicester City (D4 L3), scoring just two goals in those meetings.

• Leicester last visited Wrexham in league competition in April 1982, drawing 0-0. They have never conceded a goal on three previous trips.

• Leicester City have only lost one of their past 13 Championship games against newly-promoted opponents (W7 D5), going down 0-1 at Plymouth in April 2024.

• Wrexham have only lost one of their past seven midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (W3 D3), going down 0-2 to Hull in December.

• Leicester City are winless in their past 10 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D3 L7) since a 3-1 Premier League win over West Ham in December 2024.

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CEO Michael Williamson believes the redevelopment of the iconic Kop Stand at Wrexham's Stok Cae Ras home will be "iconic" for the club and the local area.

Construction work started in 2025 and is due to be completed in early 2027.

"We have planning permission for 5,500 but we're actually building a facility that will have 7,500 additional capacity," Williamson told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"Once we get the additional planning permission approved, we'll be at 18,000 seats here at Stok Cae Ras which will be fantastic. It's needed, it's going to be a beautiful facility, it'll be iconic for the city and the football club.

"Construction is under way, McLaren's are in there, the contractors are working daily putting in all of the ground work.

"The piling is being worked on for the foundations then eventually they'll start doing the steelworks and you'll start to see the facade go up."

Williamson also stated there is the possibility that a section of the redeveloped stand could possibly be made available to supporters prior to the full opening of the stand.

"Were on schedule, things are moving along, we're looking at opening up in early 2027," added Williamson.

"We might have some opportunities to have some seats and capacity available before that, but for the full-on facade and everything to be finalised, it's early 2027."

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Phil Parkinson feels his Wrexham wasted an opportunity against Norwich City as their five-game winning streak was ended by the Canaries.

Anis Ben Slimane and Jovon Makama struck either side of Sam Smith's header as the Canaries became the first away team to win a Championship fixture at Stok Cae Ras in 11 matches.

"If individually and collectively the performance level drops within a game then that's not going to be enough to get a result. I think that was it today," said the Wrexham manager.

"I said to the lads afterwards, when we were 3-1 down against Sheffield United, we stayed in a nice rhythm about ourselves and we worked our way back into the game brilliantly.

"Today, after those couple of technical errors, we needed someone to get hold of the ball and get us playing again - when we did that, we had some good spells again and nearly got back in it.

"So it's obviously frustrating, we've been on a brilliant run, we're not going to get too down about it.

"But I feel it was an opportunity today. If you look at the last 35 minutes of the first half, how well we played, it's an opportunity I feel we've wasted."

Play was halted for around 20 minutes early on in the second half due to a medical emergency in the Mold Road stand.

A supporter was escorted out of the stadium by medical staff and taken to hospital, with Parkinson stating: "First of all really hope the person is okay, that's the most important thing."

Despite defeat, the Red Dragons sit 10th in the table and are just three points adrift of the top six ahead of Tuesday night's contest with Leicester City in north Wales.

"There's not a lot wrong. It's just that if you look at it, we knew what we had to do today in possession and when we did it, we looked a good side in that first period," he added.

"When we went away from it and gave the ball away and didn't take enough care in possession, we just invited Norwich to come on to us.

"It's a lesson but we'll take the lesson together and we'll be ready to respond against Leicester on Tuesday."

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Phil Parkinson feels his Wrexham side will face a different test against Norwich City today (15:00 GMT) at the Stok Cae Ras compared to when they won the reverse fixture 3-2 at Carrow Road in September.

Liam Manning was sacked in the final international break of 2025 having overseen just two wins in 15 league games.

The Canaries lost each of their opening seven home Championship games of the season and averaged just 0.6 points per game under Manning.

But the Norfolk outfit have earned four wins, three draws and four losses under Philippe Clement to more than double their points tally to an average of 1.36 points per game under the Belgian.

"They seem to have tightened the team up from when we played them earlier in the season, where they were very open," said Parkinson.

"I think the record since the new manager's gone there, they're mid-table, so obviously there's been a big improvement.

"They've got good players, so you'd expect that to a certain degree and it's going to be a very competitive game.

"They're a team who at the start of the season were tipped to be in the top six and they've found that they've had struggles this season, but it's going to be a full on competitive Championship game and another great game for us."

Such has been their improvement, Norwich - currently 22nd on 24 points - would be 14th in the table if only Clement's time at the club this season was taken into account.

"They've definitely picked up lately with the new manager coming in, so it's going to be a different game, a different way of playing for them," said midfielder Ben Sheaf.

"But I think if we focus on ourselves and the way we've been playing at a Racecourse with the fans and the atmosphere, I think we will make it difficult for any team."

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Former Wales striker Iwan Roberts has backed Wrexham to continue their climb up the Championship by getting the better of two of his old clubs.

Wrexham go in search of a fifth successive league win when they host struggling Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Red Dragons, who are unbeaten in 10 second-tier games on their own patch, face another home fixture against mid-table Leicester City on Tuesday.

Canaries legend Roberts reckons Norwich have improved since the appointment of Philippe Clement in November, but has tipped Wrexham to extend their run without defeat at Stok Cae Ras.

"Norwich are a better side under Clement but at the minute I just can't see anything else [apart from a Wrexham win]," Roberts told this week's Feast of Football podcast.

"The momentum they have got, the confidence, especially at home… I can see them turning Norwich and Leicester over.

"Leicester have had a really topsy-turvy season. They win a game, then they'll lose two, three, win a couple and then lose another one.

"I think it's a great chance for Wrexham to win another two games, get into the top six and close the gap on the top two."