AFC Telford United boss full of praise after in-form Bucks overcome talisman's dismissal to progress in FA Trophy

Stenson saw red for a second bookable offence early in the second half; however, the Bucks regrouped, made a new plan, and knocked out opponents who currently sit second in the National League South.

The Bucks will welcome mid-table National League outfit Yeovil in the last 32 later this month on January 31.

Manager Kevin Wilkin praised his group’s response to Stenson’s sending off but acknowledged that his striker had put himself and his colleagues into a difficult position.

“Obviously, the sending off…my frustration is that Matty gets himself booked for no real reason, he gets involved in something that's nothing to do with him, and then he's on a knife-edge.

"I can accept the challenge for the sending off, but he just doesn't need to get involved in those situations; it's just a poor moment, and it doesn't allow you to play in the game with any efficiency.

"Moving forward, we're going to lose him for whatever now, and good players like him are really difficult to replace, and certainly good goalscorers, which he certainly is for us, are really difficult to replace.”

Stenson tangled with the hosts’ Henry Sandat, who had put his team ahead, following a reaction to a foul on Jamie Meddows. Both Stenson and Sandat were booked, making Stenson’s second booking, for a mistimed challenge, the moment that ended his participation.

Remi Walker’s 55th-minute goal won the tie, but Stenson, who had drawn the Bucks level after Sandat’s opener, was inevitably the focus of attention, cast as both hero and villain.

"I've got to try and make him understand that”, said Wilkin, “because he is a big player for us, as we've seen, but the way the lads rolled their sleeves up, re-organised, and the energy that Remi and Dylan (Allen-Hadley) showed, we really should have moved the game away from them with the moments that we created thereafter.”

Wilkin’s team started the tie on the back foot, unable to really assert themselves against strong opposition on a tricky surface at the Hornchurch Stadium. The tie, twice postponed, ended in heavy rain that highlighted the challenges the pitch presented.

“I just don't think we really understood the conditions too well at certain times," Wilkin added. "I think up until their goal, there's not a lot in it, then they score the goal, and we get a little bit frustrated, you know?

"We're passing the ball OK in our area. It's hard, against the wind, to make clearances and get any territory. I think Stenno's rolled one around the post before they scored, and it was a near moment, and then I think from the time they scored, we started to get a little bit frustrated with one another.

"We lose our way a little bit, and they have the best period then. But for Josh (Gracey, Bucks goalkeeper) and some last-ditch defending from Cranno (Jordan Cranston) as well, they possibly could have moved the game away from us there.”