Gavin Cowan: AFC Telford have enough to cope with bans
Boss Gavin Cowan is happy with the size of his AFC Telford United squad – despite their disciplinary record being a cause for concern.
The Bucks have both Theo Streete and Steph Morley banned for this weekend’s clash with top-of-the-table Bradford Park Avenue.
Centre-half Streete will miss out because of accumulating five yellow cards while Morley will not be involved in the next two games due to his red card for dissent in Friday’s 2-0 FA Trophy triumph at Darlington.
Morley’s upcoming absence will leave Telford without an out-and-out left-back, but Cowan is not overly concerned – he feels bringing in more players to combat suspensions would upset the apple cart.
“We have had suspensions, but I am happy with the level of the squad,” said Cowan.
“We have suspensions coming up, but we have 19 players and that is optimal.
“When you have more you can’t keep them all happy, but we have 19 and we believe in the group.”
Ryan Sears, John McAtee and top scorer Daniel Udoh have also been sent off for the Bucks this term.
“We have had a few sending offs, and that may be something we need to look at, but that can lead to opportunities for youth-team players to come in and take a chance,” said Cowan.
“Also, we have togetherness – and I don’t think you can keep that with a group of 22.”
One youngster who could be handed an opportunity in the event of more bans is Jack Downing.
The teenage striker recently signed first-team forms after impressing for Telford in their run to the first round of the FA Youth Cup, where they lost to Scunthorpe.
On his progress, Cowan added: “He isn’t part of the squad but is part of the group.
“He has four strikers ahead of him, but he is calling himself the fifth striker.
“He is not someone who will shy away from anything, and he understands that he has a lot of work to do.
“He has to get on the first rung of the ladder and that ladder is in the distance at the moment.
“But anything can happen, we have seen in football a thousand times that one minute you can be in the youth team, and the next minute you can be the next star striker.
“We have seen other youngsters getting into the first team like Zak Lilly and Andy Wycherley, and he could be the next one to follow suit.”
