Fleetwood Town XI 0 Wrexham 4: Town outmuscled in final friendly

Development squad boss Stephen Crainey took charge of what was mostly a young Fleetwood side, though key summer signings Ryan Edmondson, Darnell Johnson and Anthony Pilkington played all but the final 10 minutes as did last season's top scorer Callum Camps.

Shaun Brisley gave the National League club an early lead, then Jake Hyde netted twice before half-time and Jordan Ponticelli iced the cake for the Welsh side.

Brisley beat Town keeper Billy Crellin after five minutes from Jordan Davis' corner.

Camps curled a shot just wide but Hyde doubled the lead on 10 minutes, seizing on a through-ball to shoot across Crellin and into the bottom left corner.

The keeper denied Wrexham a third, pushing Luke Young's powerful effort over the bar.

Johnson had only signed for Town the previous day after a successful trial and the former Leicester City centre-back almost celebrated his two-year deal with a goal. However, he saw his header from Barry Baggley's corner saved by Christian Dibble.

Wrexham made it three before the break, when Paul Mullin's ball from the left enabled Hyde to double his tally from inside the six-yard box.

Fleetwood continued to have chances of their own in the second half and Chris Conn-Clarke fired off-target after a strong run before fellow substitute Ponticelli scored Wrexham's fourth on 78 minutes, a tap-in from Dior Angus' cross.

Conn-Clarke and Baggley both tested keeper Dibble in the closing stages but Fleetwood drew a blank.

Crainey told the club website: “It was a good experience for the lads. We’ve been giving the Under-23s a lot of praise on the ball because I think they play some good football but they came up against a physical outfit today.

"The younger lads kept going, that’s the mentality they’ve got and that’s what they need moving forward in everything that they do.

“The main process from pre-season is for the players to be ready for the next game and I think the lads are certainly ready. We’ve also not picked up any injuries today, which is a positive.

“I think they’ve got unbelievable ability on the ball but they need to become physically stronger and that showed a bit today."

Fans were admitted to watch the game free of charge at the club's Thornton training base.

Town XI: Crellin, Bird, Hayes (Conn-Clarke 45), Boyle (Wilson 89), Johnson, Teale, Johnston, Baggley, Edmondson (Thompson 79), Camps (McMillan 79), Pilkington (Raffie 79).

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