Wrexham striker Paul Mullin has provided his reaction to accusations that he bit an opposition player in his side’s 3-1 defeat to Birmingham City.
Wrexham beaten in controversial clash at Birmingham
Phil Parkinson’s side faced their most daunting test of the season so far, making the trip to a Blues side who many are tipping to be crowned League One champions later this season. The top-of-the-table clash was an eagerly anticipated occasion, not least because of the A-List owners of both clubs, including Ryan Reynolds and Tom Brady.
Wrexham made a dream start to proceedings at St Andrew’s, taking the lead through Jack Marriott early on after the hosts failed to clear a corner, but Birmingham were largely the superior team from that moment on.
The hosts were level at half-time after Jay Stansfield made it 1-1 from close range, with the big-money signing adding his second of the night after the break, heading home. Tomoki Iwata then put the Midlands team out of sight, as frustrations started boiling over for both sides, with Krystian Bielik receiving a second yellow card late in the day.
Mullin was introduced as a substitute and was a spiky presence throughout, as one incident involving Birmingham’s Alex Cochrane led to a huge melee on the pitch, with some even claiming that the Wrexham star had attempted to bite his opponent while they were on the ground.
Mullin and Reynolds react to 'bite' footage
Taking to X after the match, Mullin played down the accusations that he bit Cochrane during their altercation, sharing the footage himself and laughing off the suggestion, joking about the Birmingham player’s leg moving towards his mouth.
“I know what it looks like.. but it didn’t happen. Although you can tell his leg was thinking about attacking my mouth.” – Wrexham striker Paul Mullin on biting incident
Mullin has handled this in the best way possible, and Reynolds certainly isn’t alarmed either, replying to the striker’s tweet in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Granted, there was a feeling that the 29-year-old lost his head at times on Monday night, and it can be argued that there was a split-second moment when he considered biting Cochrane’s leg. The striker stopped himself however, and the restraint to avoid a Luis Suarez-esque moment of madness despite clearly struggling with the emotions of the fixture should be praised, not criticised.
More importantly, this was a frustrating night for anyone of a Wrexham persuasion, and the players didn’t handle the situation well, in terms of keeping their heads and not allowing a physical and quality Birmingham side to irritate them.
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ByStephan GeorgiouOct 8, 2024
There won’t be many harder matches for Parkinson’s side this season, so there is no need for an overreaction to the defeat, and a response at home to Crawley Town this weekend is of the utmost importance.
