Wrexham kicked off 2026 with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Ewood Park, outclassing a subdued Blackburn Rovers to claim a third successive Championship win and move to the brink of the play-off positions. Goals from Sam Smith and Ollie Rathbone secured the Red Dragons' first away league success in nine attempts and lifted Phil Parkinson's side to eighth, within a point of the top six, while also delivering a first clean sheet in eight games.
For Blackburn, who had arrived on the back of a three-game unbeaten run but with just one win in eight, this was as insipid as they have been at home and they rarely recovered from a dismal first half. Boos greeted the final whistle as a result that deepened relegation concerns under Valerien Ismael sank in.
Smith, making only his second league start of the campaign, drilled Wrexham in front after 11 minutes from Matty James's lofted pass before Rathbone, on his first Championship start of 2025-26, doubled the lead with a spectacular 38th-minute volley. That the visitors were without injured forwards Kieffer Moore, Josh Windass and Ryan Hardie only underlined how impressively Smith and Rathbone deputised at Ewood Park.
Sharp Wrexham punish passive Rovers