As wake-up calls go, it was a big one.

Wrexham’s first home game in the second tier for 43 years may have ended in defeat by just a single-goal margin to West Bromwich Albion but, back in August, the gulf in class between two clubs who had never previously met in the EFL felt like a chasm.

A little under eight months on and the sense that two very contrasting seasons at either end of the Championship lay ahead has been borne out, though certainly not in the manner suggested back in August when the travelling West Brom fans mockingly sang, “F*** Hollywood” in front of watching celebrity co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.

Wrexham are back in the play-off places after rescuing a 2-2 draw from the wreckage of a horribly flat first-half performance on Friday, their stirring fightback meaning the relegation fears surrounding West Brom were only slightly eased exactly five years to the day since they beat Chelsea 5-2 in the Premier League.

Josh Windass and George Dobson got the goals that ensured Wrexham partly took advantage of Southampton being otherwise engaged in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday to tee up Tuesday’s showdown with the south coast club.

“We have to appreciate where we’ve come from,” says manager Phil Parkinson, bidding for an unprecedented fourth straight promotion. “We’re coming to West Brom competing in the top six as West Brom are at the bottom end of the table. That’s a great credit to everyone at the club.

“Now, the aim is to give absolutely everything in these final six games to finish the season off strongly.”

Issa Kabore pleads his innocence after giving away a penalty at The Hawthorns (Adam Fradgley/West Bromwich Albion FC via Getty Images)

A first visit to The Hawthorns since playing a League Cup replay against West Brom’s neighbours Aston Villa on neutral territory in August 1971 underlined just how much things have changed since that early-season baptism of fire for Wrexham.

No less than seven of the 20 players on duty for Albion’s 3-2 victory in north Wales have since moved elsewhere, a tally including James McClean (now at Derry City) and Conor Coady (on loan at Charlton Athletic) from the starting XI.

Perhaps the biggest indicator, however, comes via how the main talking point during the build-up to that first league meeting between the clubs had surrounded whether Ollie Palmer’s match-winning heroics in the Carabao Cup against Hull City four days prior might have earned the three-time promotion winner a belated Championship debut at the age of 33.

Such a debate feels like it belongs to a different era, never mind the same season, even if this was very much the reality ahead of a fixture that saw Tom O’Connor, Eoghan O’Connell, Jacob Mendy and Elliot Lee all named on the bench just a couple of weeks before leaving the club.

Ryan Hardie, now on loan at Huddersfield Town, was also among the unused substitutes that day against Ryan Mason’s West Brom.

In their place came a series of signings who have helped turn around Wrexham’s season after that slow start. Callum Doyle, Issa Kabore, Dominic Hyam and Ben Sheaf have quickly become mainstays of Parkinson’s team.

As can be seen below, things have continued to evolve courtesy of Ollie Rathbone’s return to fitness in November and Sam Smith finally being given a chance since Christmas. Liberato Cacace’s injury problems have also brought an extended run in the side for George Thomason.

All have played their part in helping Wrexham recover from a rocky start — after five games, Parkinson’s side were sitting fourth-bottom with just four points — and once again, players such as Doyle, Kabore, Hyam and Thomason were to the fore in the fightback at The Hawthorns.

What’s perhaps most impressive about this turnover in personnel during the season is the spirit and character that has been a feature of Wrexham’s charge through the leagues is once again embedded within the current squad.

How else to explain a Good Friday fightback that saw a team who had looked out for the count at the break climb off the canvas and come within a whisker of delivering a knockout blow of their own to snatch all three points?

Wrexham had been truly awful in the opening 45 minutes, constantly coughing up possession and largely being the architects of their own downfall in defence as, first, Dobson diverted Isaac Price’s free kick beyond Arthur Okonkwo and then Kabore needlessly gave away a penalty by wrestling Jayson Molumby to the floor, Josh Maja taking advantage from the spot.

An angry Parkinson certainly let the players know his feelings during the half-time interval, as O’Brien alluded to afterwards when asked what was said in the dressing room. “I think I’ll keep that between us,” said the smiling midfielder.

Wrexham responding as they did after a first half that had been every bit as one-sided in West Brom’s favour as that early-season meeting at The Racecourse Ground was testament to not only the manager’s acerbic tongue but also the mettle of this team.

Wrexham have now rescued 22 points from a losing position this season, a tally only Watford (26) can better in the Championship.

“I’ve only been here this season, but if you look at the history of the club, there have been many times when the team has done it,” added O’Brien, who revealed afterwards that Dobson had admitted to not touching the ball for Wrexham’s equaliser despite initially being credited with the goal.

“The neutrals were probably saying (at half-time): ‘Oh, they’re done’ but I’d imagine the fans today — and certainly us in the dressing room — knew we could get back into it. A fighting spirit like that comes from within yourself.”

Too true, as Wrexham chose the EFL stadium sitting at the highest altitude — The Hawthorns is 552ft above sea level, just pipping Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park (526ft) — to underline just how far they have come amid this concerted push to reach the summit of English football.