Article body analysed

Wrexham’s first taste of Championship football sees them travel to Southampton this weekend. All eyes will be on St Mary’s as the Red Dragons kick off their Championship campaign following an unprecedented three consecutive promotions. Southampton, who finished bottom of the Premier League last season, will hope to ruin the party for Phil Parkinson’s side who are expected to compete in the top half of the table. Parkinson knows the pressure is on for the ambitious Welsh club and a positive start to the season will ease any early season tension. Meanwhile, the Saints find themselves back in the second tier after a disastrous Premier League campaign which saw them pick up just 12 points from 38 games. But with new boss Will Still at the helm, the south coast club have their own reasons for optimism following his rise to prominence in France with Reims and Lens. Still will finally realise his dream of managing in English football and a solid start will help his cause as Southampton eye an immediate return to the top flight. The Championship clash will take place on Saturday, August 9 with kick-off at St Mary’s scheduled for 12. 30pm. Listeners can catch all the action live and exclusive on talk SPORT with Adrian Durham presenting the coverage. Commentary will come from Joe Shennan and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto. To tune in to talk SPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talk SPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM. The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Championship, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event from 11am. Friday 8th August Birmingham City 20: 00 Ipswich Town - LIVE on talk SPORT Saturday 9th August Charlton Athletic 12: 30 Watford Coventry City 12: 30 Hull City - LIVE on talk SPORT 2 Southampton 12: 30 Wrexham - LIVE on talk SPORT Middlesbrough 15: 00 Swansea City Norwich City 15: 00 Millwall Oxford United 15: 00 Portsmouth Queens Park Rangers 15: 00 Preston North End Stoke City 15: 00 Derby County West Bromwich Albion 15: 00 Blackburn Rovers - LIVE on talk SPORT 2 Sheffield United 17: 30 Bristol City - LIVE on talk SPORT 2 Sunday 10th August Leicester City 16: 30 Sheffield Wednesday - LIVE on talk SPORT 2 Wrexham have been active in the summer window with plenty of Premier League experience now within their ranks. Midfielder Lewis O’Brien and ex-Everton, Wolves and Leicester defender Conor Coady could make their debuts at St Mary’s. Josh Windass is in line for his competitive bow as is Italian left back Liberato Cacace who completed his switch from Empoli. Meanwhile, Gavin Bazunu is set to start in goal for Southampton despite having not featured for the club since rupturing his Achilles in April 2024. The Republic of Ireland international will be the beneficiary of Aaron Ramsdale’s recent switch to Newcastle United although Still has hinted that the club could bring in another goalkeeper before the end of the transfer window. The future of Tyler Dibling remains unclear following interest from Everton. Still left Dibling out of last weekend’s clash with Brighton and could opt to omit the 19-year-old from the squad for the visit of Wrexham. Southampton have managed to keep hold of the majority of their big guns with the exception of Kamaldeen Sulemana and Kyle Walker-Peters. The Saints could field the new pairing of forward Damion Downs and defender Joshua Quarshie following their double raid on Bundesliga this summer. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Will Smallbone and Flynn Downes are expected to miss the opener through injury. Ahead of the season opener Still admits he is excited at the prospect of beginning his tenure in English football. “I can't wait. I can't wait, ” Still said. "We've spent a lot of time together on and off the pitch. "We have pushed them hard physically, we're not looking too far into results but more so where players are at individually and where we're starting to go collectively. "The transfer window is what it is. We have to base everything off who we know will be here and who wants to be here, but at the same time strengthen where we need to. Rome wasn't built in a day. We need to keep building. " © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

Registered in England No. 2806093. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF

talk SPORT is a registered trade mark of Wireless Group Media (GB) Limited.

This service is provided on talk SPORT Limited's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy.