Wilkin happy with Brackley's work so far

The Brackley Town boss has been busy trying to secure members of last season's squad for the next campaign
Tre Mitford has signed up for another season with Brackley Town. Picture by Peter ShortTre Mitford has signed up for another season with Brackley Town. Picture by Peter Short
Tre Mitford has signed up for another season with Brackley Town. Picture by Peter Short

Kevin Wilkin is delighted with the work Brackley Town have already done in securing the services of a number of members of last season’s squad for the new Vanarama National League North campaign.

Striker Tre Mitford and midfielder Wes York were the latest players to agree new deals with the Saints after the likes of captain Gareth Dean, Glenn Walker, James Armson, Danny Lewis, Connor Franklin, Ellis Myles and Shepherd Murombedzi had already been confirmed to be staying at St James Park for the new season, which starts on August 14.

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Boss Wilkin insists discussions will continue with other players and he admitted he was “disappointed” after the recent announcement that Ethan Coleman will be joining National League side King’s Lynn Town on a permanent deal after playing for them on loan from Brackley following the demise of the 2020-21 North season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have secured a lot of the players we wanted to and we are delighted with that,” Wilkin said.

“There are still a few more who we are a little but unsure about and obviously we have lost Ethan, which is a disappointment.

“He had made good progress with us last season. In an ordinary season he would have completed it with us and hopefully would have continued with us for another one.

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“We are disappointed because we put a lot of time and effort in with these players from a recruitment and coaching standpoint and there’s no surprise that there has been a lot of interest in a number of them.”

Wilkin, meanwhile, confirmed he will be bringing the Brackley squad back slightly earlier than normal for pre-season training next month.

The Saints were hit by injuries in the early stages of the last curtailed season and the manager is keen to ensure there is no repeat of that.

“We are going to bring them back slightly earlier this year,” he added.

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“Last year was different and we have to learn from it. We had too many injuries at the start of the season and we had a slow start on the pitch.

“We want to try to avoid that this time so we will be doing something a bit different and try to ease players back in and give them a bit more time to get them up to speed.”

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