Andy Owens is ready to unleash 'the camel'

Owens netted only his second competitive strike for the club in Saturday's 2-0 Skrill Conference North win at home to Stockport County.

The tall forward was just about to unveil his new celebration for the goal, his first since November, when winger Mike Phenix jumped on him.

It would have been one in the ear for his critics and Owens is desperate to make sure it does see the light of day at the earliest opportunity.

He said: "I had a go at Mike Phenix on Saturday for ruining my goal celebration. He dived on me before I could do it.

"I have been getting a bit of stick on Twitter, one fan even called me a camel. I was trying to get the ball, put it under the back of my shirt and crawl along the floor.

"It doesn't bother me, if you play football you have got to expect it. In fact, I enjoy the banter as much as anyone."

Owens concedes that his goal return is not what he wants this season, but points out that playing up front isn't where his career started out.

He said: "I knew at the start of the season when I moved up front that I would be judged on goals. And I have to start adding that to my game, I know that.

"As long as the effort and determination is there, it will come. I played mostly on the left wing when I was younger, then in defence and midfield.

"I am lucky that I have got the attributes that will fit into most positions. If the opportunity comes up to go in goal, I must just do it to tick it off the list!

"I do find it easier to play up front and more enjoyable, so that does make me think that I should stay there. I just need to work on scoring more.

"I want to take that confidence into the next game. In this league, you can easily get a hat-trick in some of the games if you get the opportunities."

Owens could have been 'doing the camel' but shot wide before his goal and then with a chance for second, which was tipped over the bar.

The 24-year-old was just glad to be there after getting held up in traffic due to a motorway accident, which delayed the kick-off by 10 minutes.

He said: "I think I should have had a hat-trick on Saturday. It was one of those games and I probably had the worst warm-up that a player can really have.

"We came up the M6 and there was heavy traffic, then we got diverted into Stafford and ended up around their town centre at just before 2pm.

"We were racing to get to the ground in time. But we made it, got changed quickly and came out."

Owens has had to contend with a back injury which has stopped him becoming the 'Rory Delap of Telford' with his long throws.

But the already much-travelled hit-man has no regrets about making the switch to Shropshire last summer, despite turning down offers from the league above.

He said: "You can see I am having problems with my back this season, particularly with the long throws. When I came here with Southport last year, I think I hit the bar.

"I can still run around OK and it's getting a bit better now and I can throw the ball a bit further. It got us goals at Southport.

"Hopefully, that will come towards the business end of the season when it's going to be most important to the team.

"That's the reason why I came here. I could have stayed in the Conference Premier, but I decided to sign for Telford.

"I knew it would be a enjoyable season, where we would win the majority of games. The best case scenario is for us to win the league and that's what the plan is."

By Craig Birch