Jordan Cranston is making his mark at AFC Telford United

The former Wolves academy defender joined the Bucks in November from Redditch United, as a direct replacement for Nathan Fox, who was sold to Spalding United.

And after being involved in a number of his side’s goals in the last few weeks, including two assists in Tuesday night’s 6-2 win over Bedford Town, Cranston’s performances were singled out for special praise from his manager.

“I’ve been absolutely delighted with him,” Wilkin beamed. “When we lost Nathan he was probably as competitive and as consistent a player as we had at that stage, so naturally we were wary of how to replace him.”

He continued: “To go out and find someone like Jordan, who has come in and thrived in the way that he has – in the group and in the team – is just fantastic.

“He’s been an absolute pleasure to work with and the quality of his deliveries into the box has been fantastic over the last few games. It’s been a real weapon for us.

“I just think we’ve done really well to lose Nathan and almost seamlessly go out and find someone who’s come in and arguably been better than what Nathan was for us."

The Bucks boss also praised the speed in which Cranston and left winger Ellis Brown have struck up an understanding together, following the exit of talismanic forward Ricardo Dinanga last week.

“Hopefully their understanding will continue to develop, because good teams are built on those strong bonds between players,” Wilkin said. “Ellis has got to understand Jordan and Jordan has got to understand Ellis, and if they can help one another we’ll hopefully continue to be a real threat down that side.”