Wrexham star pokes fun at teammates after toppling unbeaten league leader
Wrexham forward Josh Windass was in inspired form as the Red Dragons came from behind to beat Coventry City 3-2 in the Championship on Friday night
Wrexham's Josh Windass has urged his teammates to keep up their form after their impressive win over Coventry, having voiced concerns about the club's sluggish start to the campaign. The Red Dragons took on the unbeaten Championship leaders on Friday night, languishing in 16th spot and fresh from a deflating Carabao Cup elimination by Cardiff City days earlier.
After a promising opening in the home fixture against Coventry, Phil Parkinson's squad fell behind in the 22nd minute when Ephron Mason-Clark scored for the away side. But a second-half treble from forward Kieffer Moore delivered a surprise victory for Wrexham, with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto's late strike insufficient to prevent Frank Lampard's side from having their six-game winning streak ended.
Windass, who joined the Welsh outfit from Sheffield Wednesday on a free move during the summer, set up all three of Moore's goals in the 3-2 triumph. The outspoken attacker, son of Hull icon Dean Windass, said he was pleased with the outcome, which lifted Wrexham to 11th in the standings by the final whistle.
Yet he emphasized the importance of securing more victories to push them higher up the table, claiming his teammates were short on confidence and comparing their early-season displays to those of a "lower league team."
Offering a candid assessment of the Hollywood-backed club's performance this season, Windass said: "I think there's a sense that we need to improve. We've got a top team for the level. We've come up from League One and a lot of the team has changed, but we still have a team that can definitely compete at the top of this league.", reports the Mirror.
"We need to believe that more, gain a bit more possession and have a bit more control, because I think we've played a bit like we're a lower league team in a few of the games and lacked a bit of belief. But hopefully we can change that round and get that mentality into the group."
Windass was one of 13 new signings brought to the Racecourse Ground during the summer as part of a $43 million spending spree funded by Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The Hollywood pair have been vocal about their dream of reaching the Premier League, an ambition the 31 year old midfielder shares.
Yet prior to Friday, Wrexham had secured only three wins alongside five draws and four defeats from their opening 12 matches in the second tier after gaining promotion from League One last season.
Windass has consistently been outspoken and caused a stir in May when he bluntly labeled a former Sheffield Wednesday youth player as "the worst player ever" during a podcast appearance.
The striker, who has scored four goals and delivered three assists in his first 10 league matches for Wrexham, has urged his teammates to demonstrate more self-belief and replicate the performance shown against Coventry.
"We've had a few poor results and not many wins so to beat the top of the league [team] tonight was obviously a bonus," said Windass. "I think it was more about the fact of not respecting them too much.
"I've played at this level for quite a while, and there's much of a muchness between the teams, to be honest. We just had the belief that we have better players than them and we could go out and win."
He also commended hat-trick hero Moore, saying: "I've actually played with Kieffer before, so I know his game quite well. He's massive so you just have to kick it at his head and he should have a chance to score.
"There's not many better at this level than him at the back post. He actually had an easier header at Middlesbrough [last weekend] that he should have scored and tonight he scored a harder one."