Brackley boss Wilkin expects ‘attritional’ encounter with Sports

Brackley Town manager Kevin Wilkin. Picture by Glenn Alcock

It’s been a mixed start to the Vanarama National League North campaign for the Saints but there have been positive signs in their last three matches.

Wilkin’s team beat Gloucester City and Kidderminster Harriers over the bank holiday weekend and then claimed a goalless draw at Chorley last Saturday.

The unbeaten run has all been achieved without conceding a goal but Wilkin knows his team will face a tricky test at St James Park.

Sports have enjoyed a decent start to life at Step 2 after winning the Southern League Premier Central play-offs last season.

And Wilkin said: “We have had them looked at and we understand where they’re at.

“They have carried the momentum of being successful last year into this season and we expect an attritional and difficult game.

“We still have a lot of work to do ourselves and a lot of progression to make in terms of settling the side down and people establishing themselves within the group.

“There will be more bumps along the road as we go through the season, that’s inevitable with where we are.

“We need to minimise those as much as we can and make sure we put a shift in like we do every week and hopefully we can continue to win games.”

Wilkin, meanwhile, described last Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Chorley as “a solid enough point”.

“It’s a tough place to go and the game was probably a bit indicative of where we find ourselves at the moment,” he added.

“We’re not quite offering enough on the offensive front but we dug in really deep and defended very, very well.

“If you offered us a point before the game, we’d probably have taken it but you always want to be a bit greedy and win every game we play.

“It was a solid enough point, it was nice to keep the clean sheet and now we move on.”

Brackley, meanwhile, were handed a home tie in Monday’s draw for the second qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup.

They will take on Northern Premier League East division side Worksop Town at St James Park next Saturday (September 17).