Phil Parkinson has confirmed that Josh Windass will miss Wrexham's friendly against Leeds after a setback in his recovery from a calf injury. The forward also did not feature in Wrexham’s summer matches against Wisla Krakow or Manchester United, although he travelled with the 28-man squad to the United States. Parkinson said the rest of the group are ready, but Windass is the one notable absence.
Windass' injury update
"Josh Windass is going to miss out. He's had a setback with his calf injury, which is a shame for Josh but that is part and parcel of football. Apart from that, everybody is ready," Parkinson said to BBC Sport.
The absence is more than a minor pre-season detail because Windass ended his debut 2025-26 season as Wrexham’s top scorer with 17 goals. Seven of those came in his final eight Championship appearances, which is the sort of late-season form that makes him difficult to replace, even in a friendly.
Wrexham's build-up to Leeds
Parkinson's other message was about continuity. Wrexham beat Manchester United 1-0 in Helsinki thanks to Sam Smith’s first-half goal, and he wants the same focus carried into the Leeds game.
"Like we said before the Man United game, it's difficult to fully predict the personnel and the shape of the team, so we'll touch on that and I'm sure they will on us, but for us it's more about our development and our progression as a team in this game. It's very much the same approach – we will respect and look at Leeds' strengths but we want to make sure we take the positives from the United game and look to replicate that," he said.
The result against Manchester United is the clearest reference point from the tour so far. Leeds will offer a different test, but Wrexham go into it having already shown they can handle a high-profile game.
Parkinson also described the US trip as a privilege, saying some of the squad had not been on tour before because of the changes made last summer. Wrexham’s next US fixture is against Liverpool at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, 30 July at 00:30 BST, before they round off the tour against Sunderland at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, 2 August at 17:00 BST.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
