Bucks boss Wilkin happy to make a case for his defence
AFC Telford United boss Kevin Wilkin praised his side’s rearguard following their National League North success at Buxton.
A hard-fought contest saw Bucks grab an early lead through Adan George before the hosts started to gain some control on proceedings.
Buxton carried the momentum they gained in the latter stages of the first half into the second period, and Wilkin’s team were limited in their opportunities until Remi Walker’s inventiveness carved out a second goal for George after 76 minutes.
Wilkin recognised that his team’s attacking play hadn’t been able to flourish, but was quick to praise the defensive diligence that maintained the gap between the teams before George pounced for his ninth goal of the season.
“I think Adan's had another one cleared off the line, probably halfway through the second half, but yeah, we understand you've got to work hard away from home,” said Wilkin.
"Your chances are going to be at a premium, and you've got to do that thing of sticking it in the back of the net.
"By and large, those moments that we've been ruthless with were important and have ended up dividing the two teams.
"We haven't allowed them into quite such clear-cut areas, but that's not to say that we haven't had to defend hard. They've put restart moments on us, and people have been really brave and really honest, to win in those moments and deny Buxton any real clear-cut moments.”
The Bucks sit in 14th place in the division but can climb higher when they host Chester on Boxing Day, aiming to extend an unbeaten run in all competitions to nine matches.
Wilkin tried not to focus on the run simply for the sake of statistics, but the significance of how they have built it wasn’t lost on him.
“Yes, you want to carry on that run of form, don't you? That's what you want to do, and when you can go with back-to-back victories, it's important,” he added.
“We know how tough it is to win on the road. It's tough for us to adapt to the 3G surface, as you've heard me say plenty of times before, because they play very differently. We've had to adapt to that and done really well.
"Getting the start we needed gave us a good platform from which to build. It took a little while longer to build on it, but the most important thing is that we did.
"I think the overall understanding as a group is that we're able to come through games like that and have to be strong and concentrate to good levels to make sure that we are keeping clean sheets and giving ourselves a real chance of winning the three points.”
