Liam Watson tells AFC Telford to compete

The 'AFC' club have previously spent two seasons in non-league's top flight during their 10-year existence, before Watson took charge.

Andy Sinton kept the club out of the drop zone for all of the first campaign, but had left by the time they were relegated in year two.

Now it's Watson turn to steady the Bucks' ship in the Premier, having kept Southport at the level for three seasons from 2010 to 2013.

It's safety first in his plan for the team to prosper, which he believes is the best plan for any part-time club to adopt as they find their feet.

He said: "First and foremost, we need to make sure we compete. The last couple of years Telford have been at this level, they haven't done that.

"This needs to be a difficult place to come to. My teams may not always play the best football in the world, but they always give me everything.

"We should enjoy our time in this league, because we worked so hard to get there. For any part-time club in this division, it's consolidation first.

"If you are safe with a few games to go, you have done what you set out to do, you always plan to do better but you would always take safety."

Watson has been a non-league campaigner since leaving the full-time game with Preston North End in 1995, as a player and then a manager.

He's marvelled at how the top division's make-up has changed since then, saying: "The Conference Premier is a cosmopolitan league now.

"League One has become like the Championship, League Two like One and the Premier is like an extension of the Football League, with the size of the clubs.

"There Grimsby Town, Wrexham, Bristol Rovers, Kidderminster Harriers, Lincoln City, you could just go on and on. A good majority are ex-League clubs.

"When they come down, I think a lot of them frown upon the Conference, thinking they will just bounce back up but very rarely does it happen."