Fans are daring to dream of a fourth consecutive promotion as Wrexham AFC make their Championship debut.

The club is facing Southampton away on Saturday following a record-breaking back-to-back-to-back promotion.

But manager Phil Parkinson said the club “won’t get carried away” with fans’ expectations.

It is the first time Wrexham are playing in the second tier of English football since 1982.

They were relegated at the end of that season but, 43 years on, they are finally back to those giddy heights once more.

The summer saw a flurry of new signings, including Wales internationals Danny Ward and Kieffer Moore creating excitement among fans.

But Parkinson said the task was winning matches and keeping distractions to a minimum.

He said: “Other people on the outside may talk about that [the promotions] but we’re just focused on what we’ve got to do, remaining grounded as a group and knowing there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us.”

But that will not stop fans from speculating, as Rich Fay and Nathan Salt have been doing on their RobRyanRed podcast for four years.

Nathan said celebrity owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds had a bullish attitude: “North American owners have this insatiable appetite to win, they don’t understand finishing 10th.

“Rob came on our podcast and said ‘I wouldn’t take finishing seventh in the Premiership because why are there six teams ahead of us?’.”

Rich added: “They’ve only wanted to win every single time since they’ve been in charge of the club and that’s not going to change.”

But he is also urging fans to enjoy the achievements so far.

“Sometimes you’ve got to look back where you’ve come from to really appreciate how amazing it’s been already.”

Whatever happens, the Wrexham playbook has already inspired other would-be Ryans and Robs to get involved in non-league football.

Elliot Stroud, who runs Network FC for people looking to invest in football clubs, said: “I get buyers and investors coming to me saying ‘I want to do a Wrexham, we want to try and emulate what Rob and Ryan have done’.”

And they do not need to be Hollywood stars to do it.

“We’re getting enquiries from some very interesting people, some heavyweights of the industry but also people who’ve saved up to do something in football,” he said.

The club has been represented at the National Eisteddfod on the edge of the city all week with a Wrexham FC stall selling the latest shirts.

Their first Championship match will be screened on the Maes with live Welsh language commentary from Niclas Parry, the new president of the Eisteddfod court.

But it’s anyone’s guess how their story will end this time.