Fans chanted Rathbone’s name in the final minutes of the 2-2 draw with Watford, and the midfielder says he struggled to contain his emotions as the contest drew to a close.
“Yeah it was nice. I was nearly welling up when I was out there, I had to try and keep it together. But it means a hell of a lot,” he said.
The draw against Watford stretched Wrexham’s unbeaten home league run to eight matches.
Phil Parkinson’s side sit 14th before their trip to Swansea City on Friday (20:00 GMT), just six points adrift of the play-off places.
And Rathbone feels the Red Dragons will kick on in the new year as they look to build on their solid campaign so far.
“I think at the start we were just getting this new group together and you can slowly see it starting to click,” he said.
“I think there’s a lot more to come from us in the second half of the season.”