Needham Market v Telford: Bucks aiming to strike a blow in the race for glory

The Bucks currently sit fifth in the Southern Central Premier, while the Marketmen are second, four points off top with four games in hand on current leaders Redditch.

Telford will move three points behind tomorrow’s opponents with victory at Bloomfields, and the magnitude of the situation is not lost on boss Kevin Wilkin.

“I would think everyone else looking in would hope that we can go there and get a result because it would keep the league very much open,” he explained. “I think if you’re a neutral you’d want that door to be opened slightly for everybody. But Needham have the ball in their court and they’re the ones who you’d think will go on and win it at the moment.

“We’ll just be focusing on ourselves; we’ve had them watched and we know it’ll be a tough place to go but these are the games you want to be involved in.

“The more successful we are, the bigger the games become.”

Telford will arrive in Suffolk full of confidence after their remarkable comeback win against Stourbridge last weekend. Despite finding themselves trailing with less than 10 minutes to go, Orrin Pendley’s back heel and Ricardo Dinanga’s left-footed wonder strike turned the game on its head and sent more than 1,000 Telford fans at New Bucks Head into a frenzy.

That positive feeling will be vital as the Bucks travel to Needham Market, who are unbeaten in their 10 home games this season.

“It was enjoyable in the end,” admitted Wilkin. “The manner in which we kept forcing the issue was pleasing and we need to keep understanding how we do that. The most important thing is we’re winning games and keeping the pressure on the teams around us.”

Wilkin made the decision to change formation against Stourbridge, opting to start with a 4-3-3 instead of his trusty 4-4-2.

And despite achieving victory in the end, it is fair to say the Bucks boss was underwhelmed with the result of his experiment.

“I don’t think it was totally convincing if I’m being honest with you,” Wilkin conceded. “We looked fairly comfortable in the game, but we’ve had to wait till late on to go and get the goals.”

“We’re always striving to improve in the final third and whether (the formation changed) worked or not would be questionable.

“But with other players coming back now we can look at it and say if it’s not the formation that’s going to see us score goals there and then we have to keep looking elsewhere.”

Midfielder Jordan Piggott is back fit and in contention for a starting spot against Needham Market, as is experienced defender Jared Hodgkiss.

Byron Moore, who was substituted in the first half of the Stourbridge game due to injury, and Matty Stenson look set to miss out, leaving match-winner Ricardo Dinanga poised for a start.