Phil Trainer: No world beaters to frighten us

Midfielder Phil Trainer claims AFC?Telford United should not be overawed by any of their opponents in the Blue Square Bet premier league.

The Bucks were narrowly defeated 2-1 at home to play-off favourites Forest Green Rovers last night.

The visitors had spent big during the summer and Trainer admitted his side were guilty of showing them too much respect in a poor first half display.

• See pictures from Telford's defeat to Forest Green Rovers

But a superb second half fightback has convinced Trainer that Andy Sinton's part-time side should not be afraid of anyone.

"There are only a few part time teams in the league so most of the time we are going to be underdogs but at the end of the day it's 11 against 11, there's no world beaters and it's up to us to match them," he said.

"In the first half I really don't know what happened," he said. "They are obviously one of the big spenders in the league and I think we gave them a little bit too much respect.

"Second half we got close to them, closed them down, pressed a lot better and kept the ball a lot better and we were camped in their half.

"The tactical switch helped us up top a bit more. I think we were a little bit better in midfield and got in their faces and forced them to make errors.

"I thought we more than matched them and we should have come away with at least a point.

"Basically we need to start the first half how we started the second and I think we will be okay."

Trainer also hailed the contributions of Sinton's midfield summer signings which he said had added creativity in the middle of the park.

"There's definitely a lot more quality in midfield now," he said. "The gaffer brought some good quality players in, players who have played in the Football League so it's not just a case of numbers now, it's more quality.

"Everyone is going to be looking over their shoulder and making sure they stake a claim for the shirt."

See also:

• AFC Telford 1 Forest Green Rovers 2

• Andy Sinton AFC Telford fans backing plea

• Injuries may force Andy Sinton into a swoop