AFC Telford confidence still high insists Gavin Cowan

The Bucks are going to Haig Avenue on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers.

But they are flying high in fifth in National League North, and Cowan, whose side beat the Sandgrounders 1-0 on the opening day, said: “I think we’re facing a completely different prospect, but they’re doing the same with us. Both teams have changed quite a lot.

“We’re going into it on the back of a defeat, but it’s not as if we’re going into the game low on confidence or anything like that.

“We started relatively slow against Kidderminster, which is unlike us, but we dominated a lot of game. We weren’t at our best but we created a lot of chances.

“It’s a good test of character now, to see how we’re going to fare moving forward.

“We can take heart from the domination we had last weekend.

“We didn’t get the result but looking at the bigger picture, it was a decent performance.”

Hosts Southport, managed by former Telford chief Liam Watson, are 11th in the table.

Cowan has a couple of players, who he would not name, going into the encounter with slight injuries, but is not overly worried about them.

“We’ve got a couple of little niggles which we’re working through,” he added.

“But I’ve got a good squad now, plenty of options for this game, so I’m not concerned.”