Farsley Celtic v Telford preview: Bucks must keep fighting despite bleak outlook

The last week’s results have made the Bucks’ position at the bottom of the National League North even bleaker than it was previously.

The 3-0 loss to King’s Lynn Town was, perhaps, expected, but narrow 1-0 defeats to Alfreton Town and relegation rivals Blyth Spartans while only managing a draw at home to Leamington has led to the Bucks trailing by 16 points.

And with games running out, it feels like a case of when not if.

But for now, they must keep working hard and try their best to get as many positive results as they can between now and the end of the season.

That starts with the visit to Farsley Celtic at the weekend. They are only one place above Telford in the league, but their outlook is much more positive with them only trailing 20th-placed Blyth by two points.

The Bucks just have not managed to win enough games this season – only winning three across 35 fixtures they have had – two of those wins were at home.

Their away form has been even worse only registering the one win – 2-0 at Buxton in January.

This victory came in a spell where the Bucks had threatened to turn their campaign around, going an unbeaten run over the festive period.

But they were unable to turn those points into three and have since begun losing vital games again too.

Josh O’Brien has been recalled by Salford City, so the 19-year-old from the Republic of Ireland will no longer be at Kevin Wilkin’s disposal.

The central defender made his debut in the 2-0 FA Trophy exit at Solihull Moors before Christmas and he played an important role in the improvement in results over the festive period.

But now he is returning to Greater Manchester as Salford prepare to take on Newport County this weekend.

Farsley will be buoyed by their recent form of late, which has seen them only beaten once in the last seven league matches and that was against table-toppers Fylde last time out.

They beat Scarborough Athletic as well as Hereford and got a point at the New Bucks Head as they visited to play out their rearranged game, which was cancelled earlier in the season.

That game ended 1-1 after Harry Flowers gave the Bucks an early lead by heading home a set-piece, but Farsley got back into it before the break when Andy Butler scored past Joe Young in the 42nd minute.

It will no doubt be another tough away trip for Wilkin’s men, and with their record away from Shropshire it looks like another daunting proposition.