Swansea City v Wrexham: Phil Parkinson tells players to prove they are ‘pride of Wales’

“You look at the contrasting fortunes of both clubs in those [past] 20 years, and obviously we had that 15-year block in the National League,” Parkinson said.

“But now we find ourselves in the same league as them and it’s a real mouthwatering kind of game for everybody, hence it’s captured a lot of attention.

“To be now finding ourselves where we are… of course we are [proud]. We know that it counts for so much and we can take satisfaction from that, but it’s about the 90 minutes down at Swansea on Friday and proving that [we are the top Welsh side].”

Wrexham are 15th in the second tier having lost only one of their past 11 league matches, while Swansea’s defeat at Stoke last weekend was the sixth in their past eight fixtures.

Parkinson, whose team would climb to within three points of the play-offs with a win at Swansea, says their opponents are one of the clubs Wrexham are looking to emulate.

“I think there’s another example over the past few years,” he said.

“When we have spoken about possibly getting to the Premier League one day and people think, ‘oh Wrexham are getting carried away themselves’… it’s been achieved by clubs like Swansea and Luton and many other clubs.

“Everything’s achievable in football and Swansea have shown that – they’ve done really well.”