Paul Mullin says he's still in the dark over Wrexham exile as truth over Wigan move emerges

Paul Mullin has confessed his bewilderment over why he was sidelined at Wrexham following his loan move to Wigan Athletic. The striker quickly became a fan favourite after joining the Welsh side from Cambridge United in July 2021, netting an impressive 110 goals in 172 appearances.

His goal-scoring prowess played a key role in propelling Wrexham from the National League to the Championship, with three consecutive promotions under their belt. The 30-year-old also formed a close bond with the club's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, becoming a familiar face on the Welcome to Wrexham documentary.

However, despite his popularity, he didn't see any action in League One in the second half of last season following the arrival of forwards Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez in the January transfer window. It came after a challenging start to the campaign, where Mullin only found the back of the net three times after undergoing back surgery last summer.

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He is set to play in the third tier again next term after it was announced on Monday that he would be moving to Wigan on a season-long loan deal. Mullin has now shed light on the difficulties he faced at Wrexham last season and his confusion over why he was dropped from the team by manager Phil Parkinson.

In an interview with talkSPORT, he also hinted that he needed more time than he was given to recover from his back injury.

"It's a strange situation but last year was quite difficult for me," Mullin said. "Wrexham is a place I love, they've changed my life for me and given me many happy times. Last season was tough, as I came back from my back injury.

"When you've been injured and you're coming back, you just need time to find yourself again and there wasn't a lot of time to do that. Then from January onwards, I don't know why, but the gaffer didn't want to use me.

"Coming into the summer, I think the gaffer has just decided to go elsewhere. As much as I love Wrexham, I want to play football and I don't want to be sitting at home every weekend."

He added: "People say it's a dream to be a footballer, but it's so difficult when you're training every day and you don't get to do what you enjoy at the end of the week."

Mullin previously said that reports of a fall-out with Parkinson were wide of the mark, but did admit to feeling resentment over being sidelined in a recent episode of Wrexham's documentary. In the same edition of the series, Parkinson also laid out the situation from his perspective.

"When we brought two strikers in January, we always knew we'd have a surplus, and people would find themselves out of the 18-man squad because you can only have seven substitutes," the former Sunderland and Bolton boss said.

"That's the way it is. Mulls didn't just quite get the goals, which he normally does. I thought he had a good start to the season, and his general performances were decent, but the goals just didn't come.

"So Paul and Ollie [Palmer] found themselves out of the 18-man squad. It's a harder level than we'd been operating at. [They're] both good lads, really good lads, and have carried on training well for us. But it's tough, it's a competitive division and to make the step up is not easy."

Meanwhile, Mullin has put any thoughts regarding his future at Wrexham to one side for now, as he turns his attentions towards reviving his fortunes with the Latics.

"I'm just focusing on Wigan, to be honest, at the moment," he said. "The future is something you can't control - I can only control myself. I want to be as successful as I can in my career.

"Although it's been very good up to date, I want to continue that with Wigan. Hopefully this year, we can be successful and I can be a part of another successful team."

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