Phil Parkinson says Wrexham 'will take a lot of positives' from wild FA Cup loss to Chelsea

Wrexham stood toe-to-toe with Chelsea on Saturday for 120 minutes, and while they ultimately fell 4-2 in the FA Cup fifth-round clash, their manager says they should "take a lot of heart" from the performance.

The Red Dragons, currently sixth in the EFL Championship, battled with the Premier League giants and current world champions in a thrilling back-and-forth match that saw Wrexham take two separate leads at the Racecourse Ground before a George Dobson red card in stoppage time changed the course of the contest.

Chelsea used their numerical advantage in extra time to score two unanswered goals, although Wrexham also had the ball in the back of the net during the additional period but were judged to have been offside upon video review.

Regardless, the Welsh side nearly found a fairytale ending befitting of their Hollywood ownership, and Phil Parkinson believes the match could have been different with a little bit of luck.

"I'm very pleased with the way we acquitted ourselves tonight," the Wrexham manager told BBC Sport. "We showed a lot of good aspects to our play and played some great football. We weren't just coming here to stop Chelsea - we believe we can play.

"We were frustrated not to come in at half-time ahead. The lads have given a lot tonight and to play extra time with 10-men is really hard.

"We wanted to have a real go in the second period and we had some great chances. We had moments even with 10 men and the lads have to take a lot of credit tonight."

Dobson's ill-advised challenge on Alejandro Garnacho came moments before the end of the 90 and was initially judged to be a cautionable offence. However, a VAR check upgraded the yellow card to red, something that Parkinson felt wasn't fully necessary.

Either way, the momentum shifted after the sending-off and Chelsea capitalised, putting an end to Wrexham's FA Cup run.

"In the second half I think we were the better team and I was confident we were going to win. The referee gave a yellow. I'm not sure of the rules, it's the first time we've had VAR and it has to be clear and obvious to overturn it. I think the referee could have just kept it at a yellow.

"I said at the break in extra time there are still going to be chances for us. Unfortunately we didn't take one but we have to take a lot of heart from that performance.

"It's been a great cup run. Tonight was a great spectacle and we were competitive against a very good side. We will take a lot of positives from it."

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