Phil Parkinson felt Wrexham had a “swagger” as they beat Preston 3-2 in the Carabao Cup.
Substitute Keiffer Moore scored the winner in stoppage time after Ryan Hardie and Harry Ashfield cancelled out goals from Lewis Dobbin and Liam Lindsay.
Parkinson said: “It’s about learning and we belong at this level. Okay, it’s a cup game, but they’re a very good Championship team.
“I want to see us play with that bit of swagger and accept that we belong on this stage and we have shown that tonight.”
Ashfield, 18, got the second equaliser and was praised by Parkinson for his rise through the academy.
“[He] deserves to be around the squad because he trains well every day with quality and he’s a great lad,” he said.
“He was up against Alfie Devine, who is valued at a lot of money, highly thought of young player, and I said ‘What a test for you tonight’ – and afterwards the press will be speaking about Harry Ashfield and not Alfie Devine.”
Paul Heckingbottom was annoyed at the manner of the defeat after a strong first-half performance.
The Preston boss said: “We’ve conceded three goals and Jack (Walton)’s not had a save tonight. We missed chances so I’m frustrated.
“I enjoy cup games. Not all managers say that but I like to see what we can do and potential opponents and where that might take you.
“The league’s the most important thing. [The cups] definitely hindered us last season, as much as we enjoyed the journey in both cup competitions.
“We ended up putting a makeshift team out in the quarter-final of the FA Cup against [Aston] Villa which was so frustrating because we put all that effort in and couldn’t even have a proper go at them.
“We’ve got to make sure that these cup-free weeks are used to our advantage for the league. We can look after bodies.”
