Kevin Wilkin pleased as AFC Telford United new-boys make an impact
A 2-1 victory over Stratford Town demonstrated AFC Telford United’s resilience and pleased manager Kevin Wilkin, lifting some of the immediate pressure he had been under.
Wilkin gave debuts to new signings Reece Styche and Sam Whittall, who both had an immediate impact, with Styche scoring what proved to be the winning goal.
“We needed to bring more robust understanding, maybe battled hardened players to the group,” said Wilkin. “OK, sometimes when you find them at this level, they’re in the latter years of their career, but Reece would be another example of that. He understands the game, he scored a terrific goal for us, and led the line in difficult circumstances at times, where we couldn’t get people alongside him quite as we’d wish.”
Whittall, who lives in Telford, has vast Step 3 experience both as a defender and a defensive midfielder. He fulfilled both roles in the victory, dropping back to partner Orrin Pendley after captain Fraser Kerr sustained a potentially serious injury:
“Sam’s a player that we tried to sign in the summer, and we were very, very close to signing him,” added Wilkin. “At the time, he chose to stay with Rushall, but he’s a local boy that we’d identified and wanted to bring on board.”
As well as his immediate contribution, Wilkin feels that Whittall can be a good exemplar for his younger players:
“We’ve lots of young men in our group that need to understand how important it is to play regularly and find that consistency and to get back together with Sam now and work together again? I’m looking forward to it.”
The victory lifted the Bucks to 11th in the Southern Premier Central division, ahead of next weekend’s visit to AFC Sudbury, currently in the bottom four, but they are likely to be without the services of Kerr for their trip to Suffolk as well as a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
The defender suffered an injury initially feared to be a broken ankle. He will undergo scans this week to assess the extent of the injury, now thought to be ligament damage.
The Bucks were shorn of the services of Montel Gibson in the warm-ups, the forward aggravating an ankle he turned in training, but it was yet another setback they overcame.
Midfielder Remi Walker was drafted in at short notice, having initially been named as a substitute, and he was another whose contribution pleased Wilkin:
“Remi would be disappointed to have come out of the side, but he trained really well this week and but for the addition of Sam would have played today. He had a terrific game for us, another young man that’s learning his trade and understanding what it takes in games, and he will be stronger for that experience today.”
“Fair play to the lads, they stuck their shoulders back and got on with the job. They haven’t felt sorry for themselves, and you know, the crowd stayed with us and got behind us. We’re lucky to have that today and we eventually get over the line.”
