AFC Telford United preview: Bucks searching for fifth consecutive home win as promotion favourites AFC Fylde come to town

The Bucks welcome the Coasters to the SEAH Stadium this weekend looking to make it five consecutive home wins for the first time since the 2023/24 season, but face arguably their toughest test of the season so far against Craig Mahon's fourth-placed side.

And while Wilkin was very complimentary about his opponent's quality, he insisted Telford only have to look at two recent home performances to gain confidence that a positive result is possible tomorrow afternoon.

"They are very well drilled and every player is comfortable with the ball at their feet," Wilkin began. "They have got a lot of athleticism and some real pace in the side, as well as a good understanding and very good technical ability.

"Look, they are going to be right at the sharp end of it this season there's no doubt about it, and with them being full time I believe that's what you'd expect.

"When I watched them on Tuesday they stepped on the gas a little bit in the second half and were very, very good. They passed the ball at pace and with a purpose as you'd expect, and I'm sure we'll have our work cut out on Saturday, but hopefully we'll be ready.

"We've shown over the last few games [at home] that we are confident in what we're doing and we are growing as a squad.

"We want to prove to ourselves that we can compete with sides like Fylde. We've shown that by beating Spennymoor and Kidderminster, so we know what it takes and going to that level again will be a challenge because of the good opposition in front of you, but we can draw from the knowledge that if we do things right we'll give ourselves a chance."

Wilkin also explained how, despite being away for two seasons, the National League North has not sprung up any surprises for him so far in the 2025/26 campaign, and he hopes his experience at the level will guide his side through challenges like this weekend.

"We've got players that can work on our surface and I think we've proved that over a period of time now," he said. "We want to grow and be able to manage the ball better, because if you can't manage the ball you're not going to win games, certainly not against good teams, and that will be the case on Saturday.

"[The National League North] hasn't changed , and I know what you need to do to be successful within it.

"It's quite close to what I'd been used to while at Brackley when we were able to compete year on year.

"It took a bit of evolving there, and hopefully we're moving in the same way."

Telford's task will be made more difficult by the absence of defender Orrin Pendley, whose ankle injury appears to involve some ligament damage and was described as 'worse than we first thought' by Wilkin.