AFC Telford check on Alan Moogan's fitness
AFC Telford boss Liam Watson is treating midfielder Alan Moogan with care to ensure he is fit for Saturday's Conference North opener at home to Workington.
Moogan sat out the Bucks' final pre-season friendly, a 4-0 home defeat of Bangor City on Saturday, and has been carrying a relatively minor back injury.
But Watson is confident the player-coach will be available for selection on the opening day of the campaign, although he may give him a breather to make sure.
Watson has high hopes that the 29-year-old former Everton trainee and England youth international will bring a lot of know-how to the Bucks midfield.
And the manager is relived the squad have come through pre-season without a significant number of players on the treatment table.
He said: "It's just important to get through pre-season without a lot injuries, which we have done, Alan Moogan has got a bit of a niggle but he will be fine for Saturday.
"Hopefully, he will get through training tonight and Thursday. Sometimes in pre-season you get things like this, it's not really a major issue.
"If he needs a little rest to get him ready for Saturday, so be it."
Watson has winger Sean Cooke approaching fitness from a fractured leg but he won't be ready for Saturday's curtain raiser, while Matthew McGinn is suspended.
McGinn serves a ban from his time at Chester last season and misses out on his competitive debut for the Bucks, with Chris Lever earmarked to fill in at left-back.
Lever wasn't risked in the weekend friendly as there's other left-back option in the new-look Bucks squad, so the 26-year-old has been told to be ready to play.
The pre-season fixture list also contained a behind-closed-doors friendly last Tuesday night against a visiting London Elite side, made up of free agents looking for clubs.
Watson gave most of his players a full run-out over the two games, with Lever playing against Elite, and is confident that the team will be match-fit for the big kick off.
He said: "Everyone was either going to play 90 minutes on Tuesday or Saturday, there's only the odd one who has played in both games.
"We couldn't afford to lose Chris, which is why he wasn't in the team against Bangor. He hasn't missed anything of pre-season, so he's fine."
