AFC Telford United's Montel Gibson had no doubt he’d be back in goals

The 25-year-old has eight goals to his name in the Southern Central Premier and ended a seven-game drought with the opening goal against St Ives last weekend.

Despite the dry spell, Gibson revealed that he never once doubted himself and knew a return to the scoresheet was always around the corner.

“I always find a way, whether it’s 10 games, 15 games, but as long as we’re winning games it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “To be honest, individually, I thought what could I do better to start scoring?”

Gibson added: “Wherever I’ve been I’ve scored goals and I never doubt my ability to do what I can do on the pitch.

“I didn’t even really focus on scoring, I focused on doing what a striker can do to involve his team, get the team up the pitch and help win games, which is what we’ve been doing.”

The Birmingham-born forward also explained how the support of manager Kevin Wilkin, a former striker in his playing days too, went a long way to ensuring his confidence remained undamaged.

“Kev believes in me massively and that’s the biggest thing, even when I’ve not been scoring this season I know Kev believed in me and that the drought was soon to end,” Gibson explained. “I think Kev is great, he’s a great manager on the pitch and a great guy off the pitch.

“We’ve found that connection, that bond, and I said to him that if we were with him from the start of last season that things might have turned out differently.”

He continued: “I didn’t really want to come back down to step three, and I did have options, but I thought I want to stick with Kev and his plans and what he wants to do.

“I know Kev believes in me and he’s very passionate about what he wants to achieve, and I appreciate that he wanted me along for the journey.”

The feel-good factor that has been missing from New Bucks Head for many years seems to be returning.

Wilkin’s side are nine league games unbeaten, sixth in the league and with several games in hand on the teams above them in the league.

And despite a frustrating lack of games in recent weeks, Gibson believes the squad are well placed to continue their promotion push in the coming weeks and months.

“At the start of the season we were a bit inconsistent with performances and results, but I feel like we’ve found that understanding with each other now and the fans and everyone else can see that,” he explained. “I think it’s just the belief within the group, we all have the same mindset as the management does in terms of where we want to go.”

Gibson continued: “I think the performances have always been there, but over the last 10 games I feel like we’ve found that consistency and momentum to get into a mental routine of winning games which is great to be honest.”

And when asked about his aims for the season, the Telford top scorer did not have to think twice before answering:

“The goal is obviously to get promoted, that’s always been the aim and it’s what we’re working towards.

“It’s a difficult league, there’s a lot of good players and a lot of good teams, but we’re all pushing towards the same goal and if everyone is on the same page I’ve no doubt we can achieve it.”