AFC Telford preview: Bucks rested up for Barwell test

After an energy-sapping 1-1 draw with title rivals Kettering Town last weekend the Bucks squad only trained on Thursday evening this week, with their usual Tuesday session replaced with a rest day.

And Wilkin believes a fresher set of legs will stand his side in good stead going into their home game tomorrow afternoon.

“The lads had Tuesday off, which is just down to us looking at the bigger picture,” he explained. “They obviously worked really hard on Saturday and there won’t be many more chances to give them a bit of downtime between now and the end of the season, so we thought we’d allow them that.”

Wilkin added: “You don’t need to do a great deal physically (in training) at this time of year really, it’s more about maintaining and building on what you’ve done throughout the course of the season.

“There’s been a lot of effort put in by the lads so it’s nice to be able to give them some downtime.”

Opponents Barwell are one of just six teams to defeat Telford this season, triumphing 2-0 at Kirkby Road in September.

And while memories of that game remain, Wilkin is not expecting too many similarities between that game and the one in store at the SEAH Stadium.

“I would think (it will be a different kind of game),” he said. “They’re in decent form having won the last couple, and there’s a few experienced players in there who are very capable on their day and have shown that throughout their careers.”

The Bucks boss finished: “If I recall correctly when we lost that game at Barwell Stenno (Matty Stenson) didn’t play, Ricardo (Dinanga) didn’t play, and we were a little bit down to the bare bones.

“We conceded early and never really recovered once they had something to hang onto and hang onto it they did very well.

“I’d like to think we’re becoming more solid, but it’s only been for a couple of games, and we need to do it over a long period.

“I think there are signs there that we are becoming harder to score against, but we have to keep doing the right things and building on it.

“Hopefully there is a shift towards becoming a bit more miserly on that front, and we can continue that on Saturday.

“The intention is to (keep pressure on the top three), but we have to take it one game at a time for now.

“We’ve obviously been able to rest players this week which is nice and puts us in a good place going into Saturday, but there’s a lot of football still to play and a lot of things still to happen in and around that."

Wilkin also revealed that he expects to have a full quota of players available for the game, with Sam Whittall and Oliver Cawthorne returning to full fitness this week.