Wrexham made it two wins from two matches under new boss Saunders when they beat York City 3-1 at The Racecourse last night.

Having seen keeper Gavin Ward save a York penalty on the hour, three second half goals – all scored by Welshmen – secured victory.

Loan signing Joe Allen, who only joined on loan from Swansea City earlier in the day, broke the deadlock and new captain Neil Taylor netted his first goal for the club.

And after York reduced the deficit, Marc Williams rounded off the scoring with his third goal in two outings.

Victory leaves eighth place Wrexham just six points behind leaders Crawley and Saunders is determined to bridge the gap with the leaders. "Wardy saved us there with two saves," he said today.

"And then everybody in the stadium thought that was the turning point.

Who knows what might have happened if it had gone in, we might have just let our heads drop a little bit.

"I can't fault them. The strikers kept going, we are trying to get the ball into them and play off them.

"I was pleased we won because it gives me time now to try and strengthen things, and we are going in the right direction.

"I am looking at Crawley – we have got to catch them."

And Saunders was delighted with the way Wrexham got the ball down and played football: "I thought we played really well at times there, some good football, exactly what I wanted them to do," he added.

"We played really well first half, they could have had a few.

"It was a great first goal by Joe, Marc's was a great goal as well, and I thought they worked their socks off.

"You can't ask any more. They were just up and at it, and we have got a team full of athletes who can cover ground, and they have shown some enthusiasm.

"They have got to keep it up now.

"It is just having a bit of pattern play, some direction where we are all on the same wavelength. There is no use five of them being on AM and the other six on FM.

"Everybody knows where the ball is going. If it doesn't go where we want it to go it goes somewhere else until they can get it there.

"And the two strikers know exactly what is asked of them. If they drop their levels at all we have got people to replace them."

Pleased with the energy levels shown, Saunders still had some concerns about his back-line: "We looked a bit frail at the back at times, second half especially, but I will have to address that," he said.

"We have got so many good athletes, if I can just tighten it up at the back we can run all over teams, and we can do it for a game and a half."

Thrilled with the rousing ovation he received for his first home game in charge, Saunders added: "I am really proud. I am really proud to be Welsh to start with and really proud everybody wants me to be here," said Saunders.

"Sometimes you get people wanting other things, you can't please everybody.

"It is not me. The way the team plays reflects on me and I thought the players got me the round of applause today because of the effort they put in."

Saunders was sent to the stands for kicking the ball away following Williams' injury time goal which restored Wrexham's two-goal lead.

"As you can see, I tried to get a game at the end!" said Saunders.

"I was that excited because we looked like we won I tried to get involved in the game!

"I was just trying to kick the ball back to Gavin Ward and sliced it a little bit. The fourth official did not take kindly to it and it was probably the highlight of the referee's career sending me off."

Having made midfielder Allen his first loan signing, Saunders is hoping to bolster his squad further with the backing of chairman Geoff Moss.

"The players I want to bring in I want to be really good players who I know can improve us before they actually get here," said Saunders.
"It is up to the chairman then.

"We might have to sometimes go a bit further than we want to go but I think he is prepared to do it."

Saunders has now joined up with the Wales squad – he is one of John Toshack's assistants – for their World Cup qualifying double header.

"As soon as I leave the car park my Wrexham hat comes off and my Welsh hat goes on," added Saunders.

"All I am thinking about is us getting through the Leichtenstein match first and after that, try and get a result in Germany.

"At the end of the day, I want to get the national team to the World Cup finals but I am not thinking about that until I leave the car park - I want to enjoy this."