Wrexham in good place despite more dropped points

Wrexham appeared destined to bounce back from their loss to Norwich City in style until Jannik Vestergaard struck late on to earn Leicester City a point.

The Red Dragons were in complete control against the Foxes at Stok Cae Ras and looked on course for victory courtesy of midfielder Lewis O'Brien's fourth goal of the season.

But Vestergaard capitalised on some lacklustre defending in the 90th minute to ensure the contest ended 1-1, as Phil Parkinson's men missed out on going level on points in the Championship with sixth-placed Preston North End.

More worryingly, the late goal means Wrexham have dropped 20 points from winning positions this season, the most of any team in the division.

Liberato Cacace - who delivered the cross that led to O'Brien's opener - described the late leveller as a "sucker punch".

It once again highlighted the ruthlessness of the opposition at this level, even a Leicester side who desperately struggled to maintain any attacking pressure in the second half.

"The game looked won because Leicester offered nothing, especially in the second half," former Wrexham midfielder Waynne Phillips told BBC Radio Cymru.

"They'll be so annoyed to concede the free-kick and then not marking properly from the free-kick.

"It was disappointment in the end and the feeling in the dressing room will be like they've lost it, even though they came out of it with a point."

Parkinson made six changes to the side that started the 2-1 loss to Norwich three days earlier for the visit of Leicester, who had lost three successive away Championship games before their trip to north Wales.

Ryan Longman, Matty James, Cacace, Ollie Rathbone, O'Brien and top scorer Kieffer Moore were all drafted in, offering evidence of the strength in depth Parkinson has at his disposal as his injury worries continue to ease.

Wrexham sit just two points outside the top six and, despite dropping two points in the final stages, actually rose to ninth in the table as a result of the Leicester draw.

They return to action on Saturday (15:00 GMT) against a Queens Park Rangers side who were comfortable 3-1 winners ar Stok Cae Ras in September.

But the Red Dragons have grown and evolved significantly as the sides prepare to lock horns again at Loftus Road.

The QPR loss was Wrexham's third league defeat in five matches at the outset of the campaign, with their return of four points from a possible 15 during that period coming at a rate of 0.6 points per game.

In the 23 league matches since, Wrexham have taken 37 of the 69 points available to them, giving them a drastically improved return of 1.6 points per game over that period.

Even with the frustration and disappointment of conceding as Wrexham did against Leicester, Parkinson knew the draw on Tuesday night represented a real improvement from Saturday's showing against Norwich.

And in what he labelled a "crazy" division this season, the 58-year-old hopes his side can fully demonstrate their growth when they face QPR again.

"We're a stronger team than that day (when they played QPR at home) for many reasons, we've got players up to speed," he said.

"We'll go down there, we'll dust ourselves down after this and, another hour later tonight I'll probably be looking at more of the positives. But when you concede so late in a nothing moment, of course it hurts."