da doce： Paul Mullin is more than a “fox in the box” for Wrexham, with former team-mate Jake Hyde explaining how the prolific frontman exceeds expectations.
da supremo： Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Striker joined Dragons in 2021Has been a prolific source of goalsImpressed those around himWHAT HAPPENED?
The 28-year-old forward has been a revelation for the Dragons on the back of his 2021 transfer from Cambridge United. Mullin was the reigning League Two Golden Boot winner at that point, but stepped down into the National League in order to form part of the ambitious project being pieced together by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Mullin has hit 82 goals for Wrexham through 105 appearances, with 47 netted when securing promotion in the 2022-23 campaign. He was signed in the same window as Hyde – who joined Wrexham from FC Halifax Town a matter of days earlier – but it is the Merseyside native that has made the biggest impact in North Wales during an exciting era for the club.
WHAT THEY SAID
Hyde has told the of having to compete with Mullin – someone he considers to be the complete striker: “I signed for a fee and then Mulls came in three days later. Don’t get it twisted, what Mulls did the season before, he was definitely coming in as the talisman and the main man. But you have your own confidence, your own swagger about you, your own beliefs. I have never gone into a football club – doesn’t matter what club it is – and thought ‘you know what, I might not be the leading goalscorer this season’. I believe that is what I’m going to be. But it was more than that for me, it was about being in a side that was moving one way and getting promoted and somewhere that I thought I could be for a long time and that was building a relationship.
"Parky made it very obvious that he wanted the front two, that was the way he was going to play, he wanted two goalscorers and we both had different roles in the team. It wasn’t a threat, it was more building a relationship. To be honest, I was surprised playing with Mulls how good a player he was. I knew he was a goalscorer, but in the lower leagues, usually absolute goalscorers – foxes in the box – that’s their whole game, they haven’t got too much else around the box, maybe they aren’t creative, they aren’t hard working, they are literally there to score goals.
"I believed Mulls maybe didn’t start the season the player he is today, so he had to do other things – he’d drop short, create chances and I thought ‘this lad is a proper player’. Then he went on to prove how good he is in front of goal. When he first came in, the thing I remember is thinking ‘I’m going to like playing with this lad because he’s got that creative side’. He was better than I thought he would be.”
GettyWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Hyde saw injury problems prevent him from making the desired impact at Wrexham, as he moved out on loan to Southend United last season and to Yeovil Town on a permanent deal ahead of the current campaign. Mullin, meanwhile, is still going strong for the Dragons after recovering from a punctured lung suffered over the summer.