Manager Phil Parkinson felt Paul Mullin was on a different level as the Wrexham striker bagged a first-half hat-trick in the 4-0 thrashing of Accrington.
Mullin’s treble and Elliot Lee’s effort before half-time saw Wrexham return to League Two’s top three, with Stanley’s Lewis Shipley sent off late on.
Mullin now has 16 goals after his second hat-trick of the season and Parkinson was full of praise for the striker as Wrexham dominated proceedings to win their first game in four.
He said: “Mulls was brilliant. He was back to his sharpest.
“I felt the performance on Tuesday and the penalty, you could see he was lifted from that and he took it into today’s performance and they’re three really good goals.
“Like all goalscorers, what Mulls has done here in terms of his goal ratio is extraordinary and there’s going to be a period where it doesn’t go his way, we’ve been able to rest him a few games to keep him fresh and today he was on a different level at times.
“I’ve been saying that we’ve dominated a lot of games without really getting our rewards and we kept believing that dominance would be turned into goals because in the last few years it normally has.
“It’s probably the first time where we’ve had periods where we haven’t punished teams but today we were excellent in and around that final third which is the most important part of the football pitch.”
Accrington boss John Coleman – whose side dropped to 16th – admitted Mullin was the difference with his clinical finishing but felt the late dismissal for Shipley perhaps could have been a yellow instead.
He said: “It was clinical finishing by Paul Mullin. It was the big difference. We gifted them a couple of chances and he’s punished us.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to them. They had the bit between their teeth. They scored the goals at the right time.
“We’ve given them things to cheer about and you’re coming here wanting to stay in the game. The first two goals were totally avoidable, all goals were but the first two hurt and then it’s damage limitation.
“Second half I thought we rolled our sleeves up and didn’t get humiliated. We could have scored a couple ourselves and then the body blow is getting Lewis Shipley sent off.
“It’s disappointing. I think it could have been sold as a yellow, with a bit of empathy for the game, 92nd minute and being 4-0 down, it’s not going to influence the game being a red.”
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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