Wales boss Robert Page monitors Wrexham hotshot Paul Mullin after incredible 46-goal season
WALES are keeping tabs on Wrexham’s goal machine Paul Mullin.
The striker scored 46 goals in 51 games in all competitions for the National League champions.
Mullin, 28, was born in Liverpool but qualifies for Wales through his grandmother.
The ex-Cambridge hotshot hopes his goal scoring heroics for Wrexham, owned by Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, can lead to an international call-up.
But Wales boss Robert Page, who overlooked Mullin for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey this month, wants to see how he fares in League Two next season.
Page said: “If he’s playing in League Two and scoring goals, then we will look at and consider him.
“But there’s a massive gap from where he’s been to League Two. We will continue to monitor him.
“I watched him against Sheffield United in the FA Cup and I was very impressed by him. I wouldn’t want to play against him.
“Forget his goal scoring and his eye for goal, I like him because he’s a pain in the backside to play against.
“He’s like a rat, I like his work rate and I want that.
“We will keep monitoring him and if he keeps scoring goals as he goes up the levels he’ll prove himself.”
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Meanwhile, Page reckons Brennan Johnson dropping to the bench for Nottingham Forest in the closing weeks of the Premier League season will be the best thing for his future.
Forward Johnson impressed with Steve Cooper’s side on their return to the Prem with eight league goals.
But the 22-year-old found himself on the bench for big matches against Chelsea and Arsenal in the final month of the season as Cooper turned to Taiwo Awoniyi to keep Forest up.
Yet Page, who will start Johnson against Armenia in a Cardiff on Friday night, believes his time on the sidelines will benefit the forward in the long-term.
Page said: “You get a level of inconsistency of performance with your younger players, and it certainly won’t have harmed him in any way to have missed a few games at Forest.
“He has to manage that when he gets a little dip in form.
“Because he scored so many goals, and because he is a constant threat – one of the best counter attacking footballers in the Premier League – he set a precedent.
“You have to manage the pressure on your players then and it’s probably not the worst thing in my opinion that he’s found himself out of the team for the last few games.”
Johnson is back in the Wales fold after missing the March qualifiers – a 1-1 draw with Croatia and 1-0 win over Latvia – with a groin injury.
Page was unhappy with Forest’s handling of the injury as Johnson continued to play for his club despite carrying a fitness problem which then ruled him out for his country.
But the Dragons chief is delighted to welcome back the speedy Johnson into his attack.
Wales bid to move a step closer to Euro 2024 qualification in Germany next summer with positive results over Armenia and then Turkey away next Monday night.
Page added: “Brennan was playing week in, week out for Forest in the Premiership and he was kept at the top end of the pitch from a counter attacking perspective.
“You are always going to miss your best players, but we had to ask others to step up to the plate and the two performances overall were outstanding.
“To finish off in the Latvia game with the highest percentage possession we’ve had in the last five years goes to show we’ve got rid of the disappointment of the World Cup.
“The players are embracing what we’re asking them to do moving forward and it suits the players. They enjoy playing that way.”
Wales are wary they must score more goals in the post-Gareth Bale era after the record goal scorer hung up his boots in January.
Page said: “It’s one of the things we are addressing.
“We won the last game 1-0 and while I was happy with the performance and how we controlled the game, that final detail at the top of the pitch is where we need to improve.
“Having people like Brennan back fit, DJ (Dan James), Harry Wilson and David Brooks available is only going to help us achieve that.
“The difficulty at international level compared to club level is you can’t go out and buy a player to suit your way of playing.
“You have to adapt – even when the game is going on. With the personnel we’ve got we can have two or three different formations without any problem.
“The game plan might change with a game. Having players like Brennan will give us the opportunity to get higher up the pitch and score more goals.
“We’ve got some good players and the problem now is finding out how to get them all into the same team.”