Telford suffer key player blow
Kevin Wilkin has admitted that AFC Telford United’s former club-captain Fraser Kerr informed the club of his plans prior to the end of the season.
Shortly after the final whistle in The Bucks’ unsuccessful play-off final the Scottish defender revealed that he would be moving abroad with his wife, who is pursuing an ‘exciting career opportunity’.
Kerr was left out of the starting XI for both play-off games by Kevin Wilkin and his coaching team, and the Telford boss conceded that that decision was not entirely tactical.
“We found out late on in the season, and yes there was a part of that situation that entered my thinking ahead of the semi-final,” Wilkin said. “I had to make the decision and I wanted to play with two centre-halves, so I’m not going to lie, it did play a part in my reckoning.”
He added: “It wasn’t the sole reason why we played Sam and not Fraser, when you look at the three options they’d all done equally well throughout the season. It was a tremendously difficult conversation I had to have with Fraser, difficult for both of us, but you have to make these decisions.”
Wilkin continued: “Sam and Orrin were probably our best two players in the play-offs, and it worked out great against Mickleover. Okay, we came up short against Leamington, but that was an area that stayed solid for us that afternoon.
“Conversations like that are difficult, but I’m not going to shy away from them. I want to treat people in the right way, and we wish Fraser well for the future.”
