AFC Telford United preview: Spennymoor-bound Bucks look to bounce back from FA Trophy disappointment

The Bucks saw their dreams of a trip to Wembley slip away, as their underwhelming performance was punished by their National League opponents, who picked up a 2-0 victory at the SEAH Stadium.

However, with a play-off place in the National League North up for grabs there is plenty to play for still, and the Telford boss insisted his side have no time for disappointment ahead of their long trip north this evening.

"We need to focus on ourselves and really try to get back on the move again," Wilkin said. "Saturday was disappointing for all of us because we worked really hard to get to that stage of the competition, and to go out in the way we did was not nice.

"You kind of feel that on Saturday we didn't give a true example of ourselves. There were moments and chances that we had and if we had stuck them away it might have been a different result , and that's something we need to be better at against Spennymoor.

"They're a really competitive side that over the last few years have always been right up and around it, and have made their ground a difficult place to have to go and pick up a result.

"They're not quite doing as well as they perhaps would have liked at this stage of the season, but like ourselves they'll still feel like they've got plenty to play for.

The Bucks boss also provided an update on a number of players who missed the game on Saturday, revealing a return for a number of stars is not far away.

"David (Solademi) didn't complete the full session  on Thursday which we would have liked him to, so it's just small steps with him at the moment," Wilkin said. "If I would have really needed him on Saturday he'd have been able to come in, but we had Ed (Ilewa-Ikpakwu) and Jid (Fridye-Harper) providing plenty of cover in that area, so we were able to give him that little bit of extended time to get himself right.

"With Brandon, Orrin and Adan I'm hoping on all three fronts that they're not too far away. Pinning a time on it would be difficult, but I think we're looking at weeks now rather than months."

It was potentially with tonight's game in mind that Wilkin replaced top scorer Matty Stenson with 15-20 minutes remaining on Saturday, to Stenson’s evident frustration, but his manager made light of the moment.

“We needed to freshen up, we did need to try and put legs out there," he said. "There's another big game on Tuesday, and people deserve a chance and an opportunity off the bench; whether they take it or not is down to them.

"Matty's a big player for us, but we have to understand there are other players there that are chomping at the bit to get a chance and an opportunity to show what they're all about.”