Wrexham

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Wrexham left wing-back Liberato Cacace has been named in New Zealand's World Cup squad.

Injuries have limited the 25-year-old to only 13 appearances for the Welsh club this season, having joined from Italian side Empoli last year.

Cacace has not played for Wrexham since February but was on the bench for their final two games of the Championship season.

He is included in a New Zealand squad which also features Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood and Braintree Town defender Tommy Smith.

They will become the first New Zealanders to play at two World Cups, having represented the All Whites in South Africa 16 years ago.

In 2010 - competing at a World Cup for only the second time following their 1982 debut - New Zealand drew with Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay but failed to reach the knockout stages.

They will face Belgium, Egypt and Iran in the group stage of the 2026 tournament, which is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July.

New Zealand will play England in a friendly in Tampa, Florida, on 6 June, three days after facing Haiti.

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Sam Vokes is confident Wrexham can build on their 2025-26 season as they continue to push towards their aim of reaching the Premier League.

The Red Dragons ended the Championship season in seventh, missing out on the play-offs on the final day of the regular season.

But former Wales striker Vokes believes Phil Parkinson's men can further bolster their ranks this summer with a view to mounting another promotion push next term.

"There'll be disappointment from Saturday (against Middlesbrough), but I've just got an overall view of it that it's something they can build on," Vokes told the BBC's Feast of Football podcast.

"I think they spent the third-highest amount in the EFL last year, so that's huge, and they'll probably go again.

"It'll be interesting, we'll have a look over the summer and in pre-season at where they'll look to strengthen. Do they need to massively? I don't really know.

"I'm sure they'll have another go because they'll want to push for, at least the play-off spots next season."

Having claimed 71 points from their 46 regular season matches, Parkinson's men secured their highest-ever league finish last term.

And having initially stated survival would be the target for Wrexham last season, Vokes says the Red Dragons should remain proud of the rapid progress they have made under Parkinson.

"When you take a step back and have a broad view of where Wrexham have come from and how far they've come in such a short space of time, it's unbelievable," he added.

"They could have sneaked in (to the play-offs), but they've had their highest ever finish in the EFL.

"I said at the start of the season that if they stay in the division, then it's a success because of where they've come from."

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Conor Coady says he cannot rule out the idea of returning to Wrexham next season after completing a successful loan spell at Charlton Athletic.

The 33-year-old joined Wrexham from Leicester City last summer for a fee believed to be in the region of £2m.

But the ex-England centre-back struggled for game time at Stok Cae Ras, making only six Wrexham appearances before moving to The Valley in January.

Coady, who believes his stint at Charlton has proved he can still cope with the rigours of the Championship, signed a two-year deal with the option of another season when he moved to Wales last August.

"When I went there last summer, it was something I really wanted to be a part of and sometimes I think people look at footballers and think something's happened," Coady said.

"Nothing's ever personal in football. Sometimes a manager just doesn't take to you and I think that was what it was. [But] I've got a really good relationship with Phil Parkinson - nothing's ever happened between us.

"I had a great relationship when I was there and they were brilliant with me in January when it came to maybe wanting to leave if there was an opportunity.

"Wrexham is a brilliant, brilliant club so I can't sit here now and rule anything out because I don't know what's going to happen."

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Coady spent much of his time at Charlton in midfield, where he made 12 appearances – and scored once – as Nathan Jones' team secured Championship survival with a week of the season to spare.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers player was given the captain's armband as Charlton ended the season with a 3-1 defeat at Swansea City on Saturday.

Speaking after that game, Coady said he would wait to see whether a return to Charlton is an option having had a "good conversation" with Jones over the weekend.

Coady added that playing regular football at Charlton had "put a smile back on my face".

"I had a tough first half of the season and a lot of people were writing me off and saying my legs have gone and all that sort of stuff. I think I've showed they're not," he continued.

"I've come [to Charlton], I've played central midfield, I think in every game I've played I've run between 11 and 12 kilometres.

"So can we move forward? We'll see what the summer brings and we'll have a chat when the time's right."

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Dom Hyam believes Wrexham team-mate Callum Doyle will attract transfer interest from some "big clubs" following his impressive debut season with the Red Dragons.

The central defender moved to north Wales from Manchester City last summer and, having been in and out of the starting line-up in the first half of the season, Doyle started each of Wrexham's final 26 games of the Championship season.

The 22-year-old was included in the English Football League Championship team of the season, and defender Hyam feels Doyle will be on the radar of numerous clubs in the summer transfer window.

"He's a really quality player. I think he's got everything," Hyam said of Doyle after his side's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough - a result that saw Wrexham finish seventh and miss out on the play-offs.

"He's technically so calm. He's a beast as well and he's young.

"I think that'll unfortunately attract some big clubs.

"It's obviously out of our hands, but he's got a big future."

Discussing Doyle's talents in mid-April, manager Phil Parkinson said: "Callum's been really good for us. I think everybody can see what a class player Callum is."

Doyle ended his debut season with Wrexham having featured 39 times across all competitions, scoring three goals.

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Josh Windass and Callum Doyle were among the headline winners at Wrexham's end of season awards ceremony for the 2025-26 campaign.

Windass - who joined the Red Dragons as a free agent after leaving Sheffield Wednesday last summer - ended the campaign as the club's top scorer with 17 goals across all competitions, seven of which came across his side's final eight games of the Championship season.

His exploits earned him the club's player of the season award, with impressive defender Callum Doyle being named young player of the season.

Doyle - who signed from Manchester City last summer - also scooped the club's players' player of the season prize.

It comes after the 22-year-old was named in the English Football League's Championship team of the season.

Midfielder Ollie Rathbone won the goal of the season award for his last-gasp strike that earned Phil Parkinson's men a dramatic 3-2 win at Queens Park Rangers on 24 January.

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Former Wrexham player and manager Brian Flynn believes the Red Dragons will bolster their ranks in the summer to ensure they are "stronger and better" in 2026-27.

Phil Parkinson's men narrowly missed out on the Championship play-offs as they were pipped to sixth spot by Hull City on the final day of the 2025-26 regular season.

Nevertheless, Wrexham secured their highest-ever league finish, and Flynn believes his former club will only improve next term.

"I think they need at least three or four players. Is that a major overhaul? I don't think so," he told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"He does like employing strikers, that's for certain, Phil does do that.

"In all other areas of the pitch, I think they're well served.

"They've got players like [Dom] Hyam, he's been excellent all season. He's been a really good signing.

"Players like Ollie Rathbone have come up with important goals, Josh Windass is a Championship player, so they will definitely come back stronger and better next season, without a shadow of a doubt."

The Red Dragons signed off their season with an exciting 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough at Stok Cae Ras.

After Tommy Conway had given Boro an early lead, Wrexham went 2-1 up thanks to Josh Windass' stunning free-kick and Sam Smith's bullet header.

But Kim Hellberg's men - who take on Southampton in the play-off semi-finals - earned a point thanks to David Strelec's goal shortly after Smith had given the home side the lead.

"It was two really good teams," Flynn said of the contest in north Wales.

"After the early goal, I was really impressed with the way Wrexham shrugged off the disappointment of conceding so soon.

"The passing and movement was quick, they were a threat.

"It was a good advert for the Championship. Unfortunately, Kieffer [Moore], Josh Windass' chance as well, if you wanted the ball to fall to anyone on the edge of the box, you'd back Josh, but unfortunately it wasn't to be."

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Former Wrexham midfielder Waynne Phillips acknowledges that the club have enjoyed a successful season in the Championship - but that missing out on the play-offs would be a "disappointment".

Wrexham are sixth in the table and host fourth-placed Middlesbrough on Saturday (12:30 BST).

Victory for Wrexham would give them a play-off spot unless Hull City can claim victory by a bigger winning margin, while anything less could also open the door for Derby County to sneak into sixth place.

"There will be an element of disappointment if they don't make it into the top six," Phillips told BBC Radio Cymru's Dros Frecwast.

"They will have come so close having done so well for the majority of the season.

"I'm disappointed with how the season has finished for them - their worst run of the season has come at the most important time.

"But Middlesbrough have not been at their best in the last 10 games – if you look back to two months ago it looked like Middlesbrough were going up automatically.

"Things change in football – what counts now is not what has happened in 45 games this season but the 90 minutes tomorrow [Saturday] afternoon."

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Phil Parkinson says he is not concerned by Middlesbrough's approach to Saturday's crucial fixture with his Wrexham side at Stok Cae Ras on Saturday (12:30 BST), amid talk the visitors could potentially rest players.

Boro's slim automatic promotion hopes were kept alive on Tuesday night as Southampton drew 2-2 with Ipswich Town.

To finish second Kim Hellberg's side need to beat the Red Dragons and also hope both Ipswich lose to Queens Park Rangers and Millwall fail to beat relegated Oxford United on the final weekend of the regular season.

Opta's data model gives Boro just a 2.2% chance of clinching a place in the top two, while they are already guaranteed a place in the play-offs at the very least.

It has led to some suggesting Hellberg could name a weakened team against Wrexham in a bid to keep his side fresh for a likely play-off campaign.

Discussing Boro, Parkinson said: "They're a good side, like any team which is up there at this stage.

"Similar to when we played them [in October] really, even though it was a different manager. They've got some key players, they've had some different results in the last 10 games, particularly defeats at home.

"But the dream's still alive for them. Obviously, they need other results to go their way."

Middlesbrough's hopes of automatic promotion would already have been over had Ipswich got more than the single point they collected at Southampton in midweek.

"People have been speaking a lot about, if Ipswich won, would it mean Middlesbrough played a weakened team? That doesn't bother me, to be honest with you.

"You can't predict the mindset of the opposition or manager or the team on the day, we've just got to focus on ourselves and we have done this week and we'll be ready."

Middlesbrough head to north Wales having earned back-to-back victories against bottom side Sheffield Wednesday and Watford - although those triumphs followed a seven-game winless run.

Nevertheless, Wrexham midfielder Matty James feels Boro deserve huge praise for still being in the mix for automatic promotion with one game left to play this season.

"I think Middlesbrough have done excellent throughout the whole season," said James.

"They've got some very, very good players and credit to them to be at this point in the season.

"But I think for us, a home game, the key thing is our performance and making sure we make it very, very difficult for them on Saturday."

There is a lot riding on this game for both sides when they meet on Saturday (12:30 BST).

Victory for Wrexham would give them a play-off spot unless Hull can claim victory by a bigger winning margin, while anything less could also open the door for Derby County to sneak into sixth place.

Middlesbrough already know they will at least be in the play-offs but a win might be enough to pinch the second automatic promotion place depending on the results for Ipswich and Millwall.

• This will be Wrexham's first home game against Middlesbrough in the Football League; the Red Dragons have won their first Football League home game against an opponent in seven of the past 10 occasions (D1 L2), most recently beating Ipswich 5-3 in February.

• Middlesbrough have lost both of their previous away games against Wrexham in all competitions, both in the FA Cup in 1973-74 (1-0) and 1999-00 (2-1).

• Wrexham have won their final match in each of their past four Football League seasons, their longest ever such run.

• Middlesbrough have lost their final game in three of the past five Championship seasons (W1 D1), as many as their previous 14 in the second tier beforehand (W7 D4 L3).

• Between 11 March and 22 April, Middlesbrough had 179 shots in eight Championship matches and scored just seven goals (4% conversion). In their last game against Watford, they had 20 shots and scored five goals (25%).