Who has been Wrexham's player of the season so far?

Visiting the Magic Roundabout at Christmas sounds idyllic. Nevertheless, it is doubtful Swindon was the destination of choice for too many at Wrexham on Boxing Day.

Not only are there 16 other League Two clubs closer to the Racecourse Ground than the County Ground, but Swindon are among the most unpredictable teams in the division, capable of inflicting Mansfield Town’s only league defeat one week and then getting thrashed by AFC Wimbledon the next. And that’s without even mentioning the chaotic 5-5 draw when these two teams met in north Wales in August’s reverse fixture.

Throw in the aforementioned Magic Roundabout — an iconic local landmark sitting next to Swindon’s home ground that is effectively five mini-roundabouts lumped into one gigantic confusing mess for visiting drivers — and the festive calendar maybe could have been kinder.

Still, Wrexham enjoyed a happy holiday courtesy of a 1-0 win that saw Phil Parkinson’s side hanging on for dear life at the end after previously dominating until James Jones’ 74th-minute dismissal.

Victory means the reigning National League champions sit in the second of the division’s three automatic promotion spots at the season’s 23-match halfway stage, having achieved the ‘two points per game’ return that usually guarantees a team go up to League One.

Whether that will be enough this time remains to be seen, with Stockport County, Mansfield Town and Barrow also having been piling up the points since August.

That consistency explains why the mean average points tally over the past decade to secure third place (81 points) and the title (89 points) in League Two are unlikely to be enough come the final weekend in April.

If Wrexham are to secure successive promotions, they’ll need to retain the invaluable trait of how, time after time, different players can step up to inspire them to victory — as happened at Swindon on Tuesday, when Andy Cannon was faultless in midfield and James McClean netted as an unlikely makeshift striker.

With that in mind — and the fact we’ve reached the halfway stage of the season — The Athletic feels it is time to run the rule over the runners and riders for the club’s player of the year award so far.

Do goals maketh the most influential man? Or should all-round consistency matter more? Failing that, what about a new signing whose arrival helped take the team to a new level?

Wrexham are second in League Two because they boast several players who tick at least a couple of those boxes.

If we’re talking goals, then look no further than Elliot Lee. He’s found the net 13 times — from midfield. A phenomenal return. Many of these have been crucial in securing points, such as the late winners against Doncaster Rovers and Sutton United, plus the dramatic 96th-minute leveller at home to Swindon.

But it is perhaps the psychological impact of Lee’s goals that have been most important, especially when Paul Mullin, the club’s standout player of the year for 2022-23, was absent in this season’s early weeks after suffering a collapsed lung and four broken ribs in a match on the U.S. summer tour.

That late equaliser against Swindon in August is a prime example, in that it secured a draw that felt like a win at a time when Wrexham’s woeful defending could have left spirits on the floor.

Had that negativity been allowed to take root — as it surely might have had if Wrexham lost twice on home soil in the opening 15 days of the season when conceding five goals in both matches — who knows where that may have led.

As it was, Wrexham — thanks in no small part to Lee scoring six times during Mullin’s absence — stumbled their way through those late summer weeks to stay in touch with the early leaders, meaning they were then in a position to push on when things started to click.

The arrival of George Evans in a deadline-day switch from Millwall of the Championship, two divisions above League Two, has also proved key. He’s become the glue that binds the rest of the team together, via an ability to find space even amid a crowded midfield to ensure his team-mates always have an ‘out’ ball even when under pressure.

Evans is also composed and calm under pressure (let’s be kind and draw a veil over his senseless red card against Colchester United a couple of weeks ago for a moment), plus quick to react to dangerous situations. This has been crucial after an opening few weeks in which Wrexham’s midfield offered little protection to the back three.

Perhaps the biggest compliment Cannon could be given for his Boxing Day showing in the holding role is that Evans was not missed.

Another arrival on deadline day who has made a huge contribution is Arthur Okonkwo, the goalkeeper on loan from Arsenal of the top-flight Premier League.

The 22-year-old has kept seven clean sheets in 13 league appearances. But, as with Evans, it’s the calmness he’s brought to proceedings that has caught the eye, particularly when playing out from the back. Okonkwo’s shot-stopping is exemplary, too, with Wrexham finally having found a ’keeper who makes the unexpected saves rather than merely keeping out the shots they were expected to save.

Others who deserve to be in the reckoning include Thomas O’Connor, deployed 14 times at centre-half in 20 starts despite being a midfielder by trade. Alongside the much-improved Ben Tozer and Aaron Hayden — the latter arguably Wrexham’s most consistent defender but someone who is missing too many games through injury — O’Connor has been a big factor in the team’s rediscovered defensive solidity.

McClean has also caught the eye, his crossing ability in particular a big attacking weapon. The 103-cap Republic of Ireland international also links well with the midfield, as was again evident on Tuesday when playing in that unfamiliar striker role due to Mullin having fallen ill over Christmas.

Mullin has seven goals in 14 starts, including fine finishes such as his overhead kick against Crewe Alexandra and the hat-trick that put Morecambe to the sword in November. But he’s yet to consistently hit the heights that made him a shoo-in for last year’s award.

And while Ollie Palmer has been excellent in leading the line, particularly when taking plenty of punishment from the more physical League Two defences, it is Lee who is setting the pace in the race to be Wrexham’s first player of the year in the EFL for 15 years, a smidgin in front of both Evans and Okonkwo.

As with the promotion battle, this promises to go right to the wire.

(Top photo: Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)