Hardie apologised for missing 'crucial' Wrexham chance

Wrexham forward Ryan Hardie says he apologised to his team-mates for missing a "crucial" chance at Southampton that might have sealed a thrilling opening-day win.

Hardie was put through on goal after coming off the bench at St Mary's but saw his shot brilliantly fingertipped to safety by Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.

Had the 28-year-old scored, it would have put Wrexham 2-0 up, but a few moments later Ryan Manning brought Southampton level before Jack Stephens bundled in the winner six minutes into injury time.

"I don't get massively disappointed missing chances if they come along quite often, but the one that I missed was crucial in the game," said the Scottish striker, who joined Wrexham from Plymouth Argyle in June.

"If I had put that in, I think it would've then been a different game. So I took time to apologise to everyone.

"It's part and parcel of being a striker - we're going to miss some chances. But the keeper made a great save. It was just one of those days, but we've also got to do our jobs better and see the game out."

Hardie is hoping to make his first competitive start for the Red Dragons when they host Hull City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

"The atmosphere at the weekend was brilliant - even when we came out for the warm-up, the fans were incredible," said Hardie.

"If there's an extra 7,000 or 8,000 on top of that at home on Tuesday night, it's going to be bouncing for sure.

"I'm excited to play there [at Stok Cae Ras] for the first time, and the cup gives people opportunities to play, to get minutes.

"We want to go as far as we can in the competition."