Stamford v AFC Telford United - match preview

The Bucks travel to third-placed Stamford tomorrow afternoon before hosting league-leaders Kettering Town on Tuesday night - four days that could have a big say in the promotion race come the end of the season.

And while his side have proven they can outscore teams this season, Wilkin is keen to see a return of the hard-to-beat Telford that came so close to promotion last season.

“It absolutely is (a concern). You can get carried away with stats but not in that particular case,” he admitted. “This is where we are, and we need to be concentrating for 90 minutes.

“League campaigns are won by being miserly at the back. If you keep a clean sheet you’ll at least take a point from the game, I don’t want that to sound negative but it’s the reality of the situation.

“Equally we want to play entertaining football and score goals, so it’s about finding that balance.”

Tomorrow’s opponents Stamford were beaten twice by Telford last season but still enjoyed a strong season, finishing just three points outside of the play-off spots.

And it is no surprise to the Telford manager that The Daniel’s are competing at the top end of the league again.

“I’ve seen Stamford on a couple of occasions and they’re a really strong side,” he revealed. “They’ve got some good players there that are progressing with their games, and they have a bit of everything about them.”

Wilkin added: “It’s not an easy place to go, but we’ve been in this league long enough to know no place is easy, and everywhere brings about different challenges.

“We’re obviously off the back of a great result ourselves and are really looking forward to the game.

“I’m not too bothered about looking at league positions as such, it’s always just about beating our opponents when we face them and keeping right up to our work.

“We’re in for a tough game, but we need to make sure we enjoy that challenge and come out the other side with a positive result.”

The Bucks are also set to be boosted by news that injury concerns for Sam Whittall and Byron Moore do not look as serious as first feared, although young defender Steffan Jones is expected to be absent with a foot problem.

“Byron hadn’t recovered from his illness last weekend, but he trained this week and should be okay for Saturday,” Wilkin said. “Steff has had his foot x-rayed and there’s nothing there, just a bruise, so I’m not sure he’ll make Saturday but hopefully he won’t be too far away.

“It is frustrating because you need things to drop into line for him, and unfortunately when it has opened up for him he hasn’t been available to take his chance.

“Sam Whittall had a bit of a niggle, but he should be fine, so subject to everyone getting through Thursday’s session okay we should be good.”