"Birmingham City are out of sight" - Pundit drops Wrexham AFC claim after double transfer boost | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer has spoken exclusively to Football League World about his predictions for the promotion battle in League One.

Carlton Palmer has predicted the battle for automatic promotion in League One to go down to the wire after an excellent last few days of the January transfer window for Wrexham.

Phil Parkinson was able to bring two high-calibre forward options in Sam Smith from Reading and Burnley's Jay Rodriguez. The former cost the Red Dragons a reported £2m after an excellent start to the season with the Royals.

The Welsh side currently sit just outside the top two in third place, four points behind Wycombe Wanderers. Birmingham City have started to build a gap at the summit, and also have two games in hand on many of the sides below them.

Nevertheless, the additions of Rodriguez and Smith have boosted the belief of those at the STōK Cae Ras, and there are renewed hopes that Wrexham can catch up and overtake the Chairboys before the season comes to an end.

Palmer makes League One promotion prediction

The ever-changing nature of the third tier has seen several teams involved in the fight for the top two over the course of the 2024/25 campaign, but it now looks as though it is a straight contest between three sides.

Stockport County have found form once again despite losing Louie Barry at the start of January, joining Wrexham and Wycombe in the battle for second. However, the new-found strength up front for the Red Dragons has handed them an advantage.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, former England and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder, Palmer, has predicted that it will be an incredibly close fight for a place in the Championship.

"Wrexham brought in strikers Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez at the end of the transfer window," he started. "Do I expect these two signings to fire them to promotion?

"They need goals, that is for sure, but they're almost guaranteed a play-off place. They’re 11 points clear of Leyton Orient, who occupy the final play-off place. Can they catch Wycombe for automatic promotion? Yes, they can.

"Birmingham City are out of sight, so they’ve only got one place to fight for and that's currently occupied by Wycombe. Can they catch them? Yes, they can.

"Wrexham have been outstanding. There's no question that they've done well, and the manager’s done well. But let's not argue about this, they’ve been able to bankroll promotion after promotion."

Palmer continued: "Now, can these two players come in and get them the goals that they need to get automatic promotion? They’re going to be in the play-offs, if they don't manage to get automatic promotion, you'd still fancy them to be the strongest team in the play-offs, so it's going to be very, very close for them.

"In terms of gaining another promotion this season, it would be outstanding if they could achieve it and let's hope the two players can hit the ground running for Wrexham and they can start to close down Wycombe.

"As I said, Birmingham are out of sight. I don't believe they'll catch Birmingham. So, they're only going for one place, so it’s going to be very, very close."

Smith will be crucial for Wrexham in the coming months

Finding the back of the net has not been the easiest thing for Wrexham this season, and their usually in form strikers have not quite had the rub of the green in League One.

However, their strong financial backing has allowed them to bring in a forward with plenty of quality and has a history of finding the back of the net in Smith.

The 26-year-old scored 11 goals in the third tier for Reading before making his way to Wales, and he has already featured for his new club. However, getting the release of finding the back of the net for the first time as a Red Dragon will be excellent for both himself and his team.