Dom Hyam: Wrexham Need to Get 'Horrible' to Fix Defensive Woes

Wrexham defender Dom Hyam says the team may need to find a "horrible" streak to sort out a defence that has been leaking goals in the early weeks of the Championship season.

Hyam, a Scotland international centre-back, did not mince his words after a defeat to Birmingham City in which Callum Doyle — one of Wrexham's back three — scored the team's only goal at the wrong end of the pitch in terms of result. "When we need to be, we need to be a bit horrible," Hyam told BBC Sport. "We weren't quite that tonight, so that's what it needs to be."

By "horrible," Hyam means the unglamorous side of defending: blocking, niggling, making life difficult for opponents. Defenders, he said, need to "pride themselves on being more solid at the back and just defending the goal." The message is simple — talent alone is not enough. "We're a talented group in there," he added. "We need to give ourselves a solid base to work off, and that starts at the back."

The back three of Hyam, Zak Vyner and Callum Doyle has started all four of Wrexham's league games so far this season, so the familiarity is there. The results have not always followed. A 1-0 loss away to Middlesbrough earlier in August saw Hyam involved in a chance that came to nothing when his ball over the top was intercepted, and the defensive unit has been under scrutiny since (Wrexham AFC).

Manager Phil Parkinson pointed to another factor: the transfer window. He suggested that speculation about incoming players and squad changes may have affected concentration against Birmingham, particularly in the opening half. "A bit of uncertainty in the camp, players coming in, rumours of this and that," Parkinson said, describing the atmosphere. The transfer window — the period when clubs can buy and sell players — closed its summer phase as the season got underway, and the noise around it can unsettle squads who feel their places are under threat.

Wrexham's next test is a Wednesday night trip to Millwall, kicking off at 19:45 BST. It is the kind of fixture — tight, physical, unforgiving — where Hyam's call for a harder edge will be put to the test immediately.

Hyam knows what good defending looks like. He won both Wrexham's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards last season, having arrived with a reputation as a commanding presence and a double promotion winner (Wrexham AFC). His performances for the club also helped earn him a re-introduction to the Scotland squad ahead of the World Cup (BBC Sport Wales). Last season he set the bar high, saying "the standard has been set now" and that the club wanted to "go one better next season" (Yahoo Sport).

Going one better means tightening up. The talent in the squad is not in question — the goals and the attacking play have been there. What Hyam is asking for is the grit underneath the flair, the willingness to do the ugly things that keep clean sheets.

For Wrexham fans, the good news is that the player calling for it is the one who has been there and done it. Now Millwall will show whether the message has landed.