Kevin Wilkin in reflective mood ahead of AFC Telford United play-off test

The Bucks are safely in the Southern Central Premier play-off places and will host a semi-final on Wednesday evening.

And with his first full season at New Bucks Head nearly complete, Wilkin is hoping to end the up-and-down season on a high.

“We perhaps didn’t start how some people expected us to, and as I tried to point out at the time it wasn’t always going to be plain sailing,” he said. “We don’t have a bottomless pit of money where we can go and cherry pick the players you want, and we missed out on targets in the summer that have gone on to do well this season.”

He added: “The reality is, other than our fantastic ground and fanbase, we didn’t have a divine right or reason to be any further forward than we were. Since then we’ve brought some really solid players into the group, who if we had a chance of signing in the summer we would have done so.”

Wilkin also admitted his gratitude at being the man trusted to lead the Telford promotion charge.

“I’m appreciative that I was given the opportunity because I believe in what I do and what I’m about, and over a longer period we’re starting to see the benefits of that now,” he said. “These things take time and that’s been evident this season. There have been times where we’ve put squads out that didn’t have the required qualities and I held my hands up then and acknowledged where I’d made mistakes.

“That sometimes can happen, you won’t get it right all the time, but we’ve done something about it.”