Wrexham striker Paul Mullin made comeback from injury

Mullin scored 26 goals in all competitions last season – taking his tally to 105 strikes in three years at The Racecourse – as the Reds clinched a second promotion in a row for the first time in the club’s history.

However, the 29-year-old underwent spinal surgery in the middle of June to correct a long-term lower-back and hamstring issue, meaning he was absent for the start of the League One campaign.

“It was important to get Paul a little bit of game-time,” said Parkinson.

“Obviously it was never going to be more than that because he knows he has got not a long road ahead but he has got work to do.

“But it gives us another week now with Paul, a tough week with him on the training ground and see if he can go that step closer to being involved again next week.

“Go back to the summer when we got the news about the operation, obviously it was a setback but we felt it was the right decision.

“Paul missed a lot of pre-season but now we have got a free week again to work with him.

“You can see each day he is getting stronger and he is getting sharper.

“When he came on I thought he contributed great for us and it is great for him because no player likes being injured, especially when you are starting the season in a new division.”