AFC Telford United preview: Confident Bucks looking to leapfrog Spalding

Telford can move into the top half of the National League North with a victory over Spalding United this weekend, just over a month after they were hovering above the foot of the table.

The Bucks have found form in recent weeks with three wins and a draw from their last four games, including back-to-back victories on the road at Hereford and Southport last time out.

Kevin Wilkin’s side return to the SEAH Stadium this weekend to face newly-promoted Spalding United, with the Tulips having made an impressive start to their first-ever season in the sixth tier of English football.

“They’re a well-funded side with some really good depth about them,” the Bucks boss said when asked for his thoughts on Saturday’s opponents. “They have stepped up to the level quite impressively and are going to prove to be a tough opponent, I have no doubt about that.

“They have some good players in their ranks including the top goal scorer at the level, so it’ll be a tough game for us.

“That said we are at home and we’re in what we feel is reasonable form ourselves, so all in all it should make for an entertaining and interesting game.”

As pointed out by the Telford boss Spalding boast the top scorer at step six level in 24-year-old Bartosz Cybulski, the 6’5” Polish striker who played alongside Wayne Rooney in Derby County’s first team back in 2021.

His 12 goals make him the deadliest marksman in the division, but The Tulips’ problem this season has come at the other end of the pitch, where they have been guilty of throwing matches away having taken the lead.

After taking 2-0 leads against Alvechurch in the FA Cup, and Brackley and Darlington in the league, Jimmy Dean’s side were pegged back to 2-2 on all three occasions.

And while they scored late last time out against Darlington to snatch back all three points, Wilkin has spotted a vulnerability that he hopes his side can expose tomorrow.

“We’re obviously aware of a team’s form, and we certainly know about Spalding’s strengths and the areas that we can go and exploit,” he said. “We’ll make sure we’re aware of that come Saturday, and we always do our background work on teams.

“We’ve had to work hard to find our confidence and we’ve managed to do that over our last few games, although it’s a run we’ve been working towards for quite some time I feel.

“It’s important for us to understand how we need to go about crafting a win on Saturday, and build on what we’ve done.

“Everyone at the club deserves credit for the recent form that we’ve been in and the position in the table we’ve been able to get ourselves into.

“The players have stuck to the task, and we need to keep scrapping and battling to pick up more results.

Wilkin confirmed that Charlie Williams will miss the game through injury, with Matty Stenson and Zak Lilly also unlikely to feature.