Amid all the exciting new arrivals at The SToK Cae Ras,it’s gratifying to see George Dobson maintaining his place in the team.

We’ve been recruiting heavily, of course, bringing in a great deal of quality and championship experience. That means that many of those who played a role in our promotion last season have either moved on or had to settle more peripheral roles.

George Dobson is a glorious exception.

He has never played in the championship before, and is grasping the opportunity with obvious relish.

Dobson showed his quality last season. In fact, in an interesting inversion of what’s happened this time round, he was the only new signing who instantly got into Phil Parkinson’s thinking a year ago.

No other new arrival established themselves in our first eleven from the outset apart from Dobson as Parkinson kept faith with the players who got us up from League Two.

Dobson’s quality was apparent. His intelligent use of the ball and reading of the game were obvious assets from his role at the base of our midfield three, where he was a reassuring presence. It’s always a bit of a step into the unknown when you get promoted, as we should know only too well! After all, no other set of fans has experienced the sensation at the start of three consecutive seasons! Having Dobson, a veteran of League One, in the heart of the team to steady the ship, was invaluable.

As well as his composure and street smarts, his tenacity without the ball was a massive bonus for a newly promoted side. He has a penchant for yellow cards which has seen him rack up some remarkable totals over the last few seasons, but it was clear from the outset that his disciplinary skirmishes with the officials were down to an indomitable desire to win the ball, rather than anything more nefarious.

Of course, the likes of Ollie Rathbone, Dan Scarr and Lewis Brunt were assimilated into the team as the season went on, and played crucial roles as we went up, but Dobson was the man who went straight into the side. That tells you a lot about what Parkinson thinks of him, and how important he knew his arrival was.

This time round it has been the opposite story, of course. Dobson is a near lone figure from last season as we bring in new players and look to quickly develop chemistry between them. Again, it’s a compliment to him that Parkinson continues to put faith in him as the standard of players in our squad, and in opposition to us, increases.

Dobson’s spirit has been impressive from the start but never reduce him purely to a player with a big heart.

His quality on the ball is excellent. His desire to play progressive passes helps us to get up the pitch. He has a slightly stooped shouldered gait when running, which makes him stand out. His ferocity in a tackle seems to embody the joy with which he is grasping this chance to play in the second tier.

I was quite surprised when we went to his previous club, Charlton Athletic, last season to find that their local press weren’t fans of his, particularly.

Please don’t misunderstand me. They liked him. But they were more reserved in their judgement of him than I anticipated. The impression he made at Wrexham has definitely been more positive. Maybe that’s because we’ve been good enough to get the best out of him. After all, he’s never been in a side which got promoted to the Championship before.

When we brought Mattie James in and Dobson was shifted to the right hand side of the midfield three, he looked briefly less effective. However, he soon settled into the role and its different demands.

His energy became more obvious as he enjoyed the box-to-box nature of that marginal positional shift. He was a massive influence in our excellent run-in to promotion, and now here he is, grasping his first opportunity to play in the second tier.

The quality and quantity of recruits in midfield means he will need to keep those standards high if he’s going to keep his place in the team, but he has sent a clear message to his manager: he has every intention of playing week-in, week-out, and won’t be giving his spot up without one heck of a fight.

You would hardly expect less from such a committed warrior.