Derby County 1-2 Wrexham: Matty James scores winner as Red Dragons continue play-off march
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County and Wrexham at Pride Park on Sunday; Matty James scores the winner as Red Dragons continue their march towards the play-off places.
Sunday 4 January 2026 18:16, UK
A superb strike from Matty James gave Wrexham a 2-1 victory at Derby in manager Phil Parkinson's 250th game in charge.
James fired in from outside the area early in the second half to give Wrexham a fourth win in a row and strengthen their play off challenge.
Sam Smith had put the Welsh side ahead but the Rams hit back through Ben Brereton-Diaz, only for James to settle an entertaining game with a quality finish.
Wrexham headed into the game in impressive form and went close to taking the lead in the third minute.
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Nathan Broadhead curled a shot from the edge of the area against the inside of a post before sending the rebound wastefully over.
The visitors had another chance in the eighth minute, Smith heading wide from Ryan Longman's cross.
Derby allowed them too much space in midfield and Josh Windass ran into the box and hit a low shot which brought a good save from Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.
It took Derby 15 minutes before they threatened the Wrexham goal, Patrick Agyemang causing problems down the right before Bobby Clark fired just wide.
But Wrexham went ahead in the 25th minute when Broadhead crossed from the left and Smith got in front of Matt Clarke to volley home from 10 yards.
Derby responded quickly, however, with Clarke releasing Brereton-Diaz who surged up the right and held off a challenge before lashing low past Arthur Okonkwo nine minutes later.
Broadhead shot narrowly wide before the break but James made no mistake three minutes after the restart, curling a brilliant 20-yard shot into the top-left corner.
Joe Ward forced Okonkwo into a sprawling save from a free-kick but Wrexham were defending well and Oliver Rathbone was denied by the fingertips of Zetterstrom in the 80th minute.
Agyemang fashioned a decent opening only to shoot well over from outside the box and Clarke flashed a low ball across the six-yard box that evaded everybody.
Derby kept pushing and Andreas Weimann drove a shot well off target, although Wrexham's discipline and organisation limited the hosts to half chances in the closing minutes.
Wrexham almost sealed the points with a third goal in stoppage time but, on a bitterly cold day, this was a performance to warm the visiting fans while Derby came up short despite their determination and endeavour.
The managers
Derby's John Eustace:
"I thought in the second half we would go on and at least not lose the game, but the way we lost was disappointing in the decision-making a couple of times.
"This group of players will never give up, they'll keep going to the end, which is all I ask from any group of players, that they show that level of commitment and desire and we certainly got that.
"I think we've made fantastic progress from when we came in, to be on this number of points now at this stage is really pleasing and this group of players have been fantastic, they're learning and developing all the time.
"We are playing against teams who have good squads and we are going toe to toe with them and sometimes that lack of quality might cost us, but that desire and heart will get us a long way."
Wrexham's Phil Parkinson:
"To get to 250 at any club, I'm very proud of that because management is hard but I'm really enjoying my time here.
"We've got great owners and I enjoy every single day. When you reach those milestones, it's always great if you can celebrate with a victory.
"There's been a lot of expectation but it's been an enjoyable journey so far because I'm working with great people, not just the staff but the owners and we are building another dressing room this year.
"We've always prided ourselves on getting that dressing room right and we are building another one of real strength and unity.
"It's a great win for us today. I'm so pleased with how we played. I thought we started the game really well and we had three incredible chances to take the lead and then we got the goal.
"We said we had 45 minutes to finish this little block of games and we needed to go and give it everything to finish on a high, and we were able to do that with a brilliant strike from Matty James."
