Wrexham star reveals what Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney really think about Championship promotion

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are ‘very serious’ about taking Wrexham to the Premier League, according to star player Josh Windass.

With the Championship season approaching a crucial stage, the Red Dragons have a real chance of clinching an unprecedented fourth consecutive promotion to take them to the Premier League.

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Mission impossible?

Heading into the final seven games, the Welsh outfit find themselves within touching distance of the play-off places.

Phil Parkinson‘s side sit seventh in the second tier on 63 points, and only trail sixth-place Southampton on goal difference.

Should Wrexham pull off the unthinkable, it would mark one of football’s most remarkable stories – with plenty of Hollywood factor thrown in.

Since their takeover by A-list actors Reynolds and McElhenney in 2021, they have enjoyed a meteoric rise, winning three straight promotions.

This has taken the club from the National League to the Championship, but is still one step away from the ultimate goal set out at the very start.

Shortly after their takeover, Reynolds boldly declared: “We’d be lying if the dream wasn’t the Premier League.

“We want to get back in the Football League and continue our way upwards.”

‘Real drive’

With Wrexham now in with a serious chance of fulfilling Reynolds’ and McElhenney’s dream, star midfielder Windass joined Tuesday’s talkSPORT to discuss his side’s promotion push.

Wrexham acquitted themselves well in a recent FA Cup loss to Chelsea, and presenter Simon Jordan asked if this had given the celebrity owners even more drive to reach the Promised Land.

Windass replied: “Behind the scenes and the front of them, I feel like they’ve got a real drive to be serious contenders in this division. 

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“Obviously, they’re actors and their job and stuff and the way they come across is all funny and very light-hearted. 

“But I think deep down, they’re very serious about it and they fully believe that we can do the unthinkable.”

Windass has played a key role in Wrexham’s stunning first season back in the Championship.

The 32-year-old joined the club last summer after leaving financially troubled Sheffield Wednesday, and has since chipped in with 10 goals and six assists in the Championship.

And while some may have doubted Wrexham’s promotion push before a ball was kicked, Windass insisted there is huge belief within the club that history could be made.

Asked if play-offs were the aim, he said: “Yeah, I think so.

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“Obviously, with the position we’re in, at the start of the season, I’d like to think that’s where we would have been. 

“To be in the position we are with seven games to go is obviously amazing, and we want to continue the form we’re in, because I think in the last 30 or so games, if we can continue that, we should be okay.”

Final push

Reiterating Wrexham’s unwavering belief, Windass revealed he had arrived at the Racecourse Ground with promotion on his mind.

He said: “It was my target [at the start of the season], to be honest, so hopefully it was everybody else’s, which I assume it was. 

“Obviously, the owners are ambitious.

“I think they’ve made it clear before, that they got laughed at when they said they wanted to take the club to the Premier League, and we hopefully can do it this year.”

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If Wrexham are to secure a play-off spot, they will have to overcome a hugely challenging run-in.

A battle with top six rivals Southampton over the Easter period awaits, while they face automatic promotion favourites Coventry and Middlesbrough in their final two games.