Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson sees no reason why the club cannot reach the Premier League after Luton blazed a trail from non-league to the top tier.
The Welsh side have become one of the most talked about teams in world football since being taken over by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney two years ago.
The ‘Welcome To Wrexham’ series has captured the imagination of many, raising the profile of a club that is currently touring the United States fresh from winning the National League.
Reynolds and McElhenney have made no secret of the dream to go all the way up to the Premier League one day – lofty ambitions that boss Parkinson does not believe are unrealistic.
“I think that when you look at teams like Luton who go up, you’ve got to say why not?” he said after the Hatters last season completed a fairy-tale rise from non-league to top-flight in nine years.
“You have because Luton were in this position, so I don’t think it’s a case of us getting carried away with it as ourselves.
“I think if you understand that you need to build a club properly, put the foundations in place like a Luton Town have done, then why can’t Wrexham emulate them one day?
“So, it really isn’t a case of us getting carried away with ourselves.
“You know, Bournemouth years ago under Eddie Howe were on the brink of going out of business and have gone in the Premiership.
“Blackpool have been in the Premiership. There’s lots of examples, so, yeah, why not Wrexham?
“But of course at the moment we’re concentrating on the start of this season.”
Wrexham ended their 15-year absence from the English Football League by pipping Notts County to the National League title in a nail-biting race.
Preparations for their first game at home to MK Dons in League Two on August 5 continue Stateside, where they lost 5-0 to Chelsea in front of more than 50,000 fans in North Carolina.
Wrexham then won 4-0 against LA Galaxy II and round off their US tour against Philadelphia Union II on Friday as McElhenney gets to see his club play in his hometown.
But first comes a marquee friendly against Manchester United’s Under-21 side in San Diego at a sold-out Snapdragon Stadium.
“Rob’s here, Ryan’s not – he’s filming in England,” Parkinson said ahead of Tuesday’s friendly.
“For the area (of Wrexham), the positivity is incredible and the way that the success of the football club and the profile of the club has raised, the spirits in Wrexham, has been great to be a part of that.
“Long may that continue because a team which is winning lifts an area and obviously, more importantly, Rob and Ryan what they’re doing in terms of putting things in place for the structure of the club going forward is equally as important as winning games of football on a Saturday afternoon.
“We all want to be part of success, but also want to be part of building a football club, which is strong for many years to come.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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