Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson hit out at Manchester United goalkeeper Nathan Bishop for the ‘reckless’ challenge that left star striker Paul Mullin in hospital with a punctured lung.
Mullin collapsed to the turf in the 12th minute of Wrexham’s 3-1 win over a youthful United side in San Diego after he nodded the ball past Bishop who slammed into his chest in a sickening collision.
Bishop was lucky to escape with only a yellow card from referee Mark Allatin who quickly realised the severity of Mullin’s injury and urgently summoned Wrexham’s medical staff onto the pitch.
United’s doctors assisted as well and Mullin was able to stand up after six minutes of treatment. He was helped off the pitch flanked by two medics, grimacing as he breathed gas and air through a mask.
Wrexham’s 47-goal top scorer was then taken to hospital in San Diego where he was found to have a punctured lung and kept in overnight.
Wrexham star Paul Mullin needed to be helped from the pitch after suffering a punctured lung
The worrying injury came after a heavy challenge from Man United goalkeeper Nathan Bishop
Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was furious with the tackle, labelling it ‘clumsy and reckless’
Bishop was booed loudly by Wrexham fans and local supporters following the incident and then replaced by Radek Vitek at half-time – although United insisted that the move was planned.
The 23-year-old reached out to the Wrexham dressing-room to make contact with Mullin, but Parkinson was not in a forgiving mood.
‘I’m fuming about it, I’ve got to be honest with you,’ said Parkinson. ‘It was a clumsy, reckless challenge in a pre-season game and I’m not happy with it at all.
‘We just got a call from the hospital to say there’s a small puncture in his lung. It’ll probably be tomorrow morning before we get the specialist to have a look at it.
‘I haven’t seen the goalie and he’s probably best steering clear of us for the time being because we’re not very happy.
‘It should have been a straight red. If it’s not denying a goal scoring opportunity it’s still a dangerous challenge, so if you add the two scenarios together he should have been off the pitch. It’s a dangerous challenge and obviously Paul Mullin is our talisman.’
United are said to be unhappy with Parkinson for inflaming the situation with his comments and driving social media abuse towards their young player who was already dealing with a difficult situation.
Bishop took to Twitter after the match to issue an apology to Mullin.
Bishop apologised to Mullin on Twitter after the match, wishing him a speedy recovery
Mullin has insisted he is ‘all good’ after posting an update from hospital on Instagram
‘Just wanted to share my sincerest apologies to @PMullin7 A complete misjudgement and a genuine accident with 0 malicious intent at all!’ he wrote.
‘Wishing you the speediest recovery and hope to see you back scoring goals as soon as possible!’
Mullin has posted his own update on Instagram, assuring fans he is recovering well already.
Alongside a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed giving the thumbs-up sign, Mullin wrote: ‘Thank you for all your messages! All good here!’
Parkinson is now waiting to find out how long Mullin will be out of action, but he will definitely miss the season opener at home to MK Dons a week on Saturday as Wrexham begin life back in the Football League.
‘I don’t know, I’ve only just got the news in the second half,’ he added. ‘One of the physios went with him (to hospital). We’ll find out later. But I think when you’ve got a punctured lung and you’ve got 10 days to get fit you’re saying no.
‘We all stick together and we will give Paul every bit of support we can to get back as fit as possible. One thing about Mulls is he’s tough.’
The referee sent off United captain Dan Gore early in the second half for a more innocuous challenge on Wrexham substitute Andy Cannon, and Parkinson thought he may have been ‘feeling a bit bad he didn’t send the keeper off’.
Wrexham went on to beat United 3-1 in the pre-season friendly in San Diego
Bishop avoided a red card in the first half, but captain Dan Gore was not so fortunate after the break as United were reduced to 10 men
Wrexham went two goals ahead in the first half through Elliot Lee and Aaron Hayden in front of a record soccer crowd of 34,248 at the Snapdragon Stadium. Marc Jurado pulled one back in first-half stoppage time but Sam Dalby headed the third after United went down to 10 men.
Travis Binnion, head of the academy’s player development and coaching who took charge of the team even though Erik ten Hag was in the dugout, insisted there was no malice in Bishop’s challenge.
‘We’ve looked at it and he’s unfortunate,’ said Binnion. ‘Obviously, there’s a challenge in the first half when Mullin gets injured, and we hope he’s alright. I know Bish has reached out to him already and the referee could have sent him off for that.
‘It’s part and parcel of the game, nobody wants to see anyone get injured. He (Bishop) has made an honest challenge and he (Mullin) has come off worse. He has already reached out to him. Booing him, it is what it is. He’s a great lad Bish, he hasn’t got a bad bone in his body.’