Styche calls on AFC Telford's "extra man"

After an inconsistent season to date in the Southern Central Premier, questions have been raised from some Bucks supporters, on social media and at matches.

Telford are top of the table ahead of Saturday's trip to Bishop's Stortford, but with 10 points covering the entire top half, nobody has managed to take control of the title race.

But striker Styche is insistent Telford can pull it together for the run-in - despite dropping points at home to rock-bottom Biggleswade Town on Tuesday.

“I’m telling you now, we will win this league if everyone sticks together, 100 per cent,” he asserted. “There’s obviously some frustration around the club at the moment from some fans, but I just think you just need to take a step back and look at the table, and how close we are to the top.

“Look at where we were last year compared to now, all we need to do is get that consistency and we’ll start picking up results.”

Styche, who played a key role in helping the Bucks reach the play-offs last season, added: “I think because we finished second, and if there a few more games or we didn’t lose the Nuneaton points we would’ve won the league, that’s maybe given some people a sense of entitlement that we can just go and get straight back up.

“There are teams in this league with massive, massive budgets. I nearly joined Kettering in the summer and the money they offered me was mental for part-time football.

“Stourbridge, Halesowen, Kettering. These teams have got massive budgets.”

One thing regularly mentioned by insiders at Telford, not least manager Kevin Wilkin, is the pressure from the club’s supporters to achieve promotion out of tier three.

And having come into the last two seasons as favourites for the Southern Central Premier title, Styche believes patience is important if the Bucks are to achieve that during the current campaign, stressing that they are not as financially dominant as some suggest

“We have the best stadium and facilities in the league, but they cost money to run,” he said. “The playing budget is one thing, but the overheads of the business is another and the owners have to balance the books.

“As a club we need to balance the books just like everyone else, and I think that needs to be remembered.”

Styche continued: “We should definitely be up there in the league, and we are.

“I understand the frustration, but we have a very good squad, very good facilities and a very good manager, which he is. People don’t see the work he puts in with the staff behind the scenes, they work so hard for this club.

“It’s not easy when everyone expects you to go out and romp the league because you come up against good teams who won’t let you do that, and they don’t have that same outside pressure.

“No-one is running away with it like Mickleover and Needham Market did last season, we’re in a good position and the reaction has been a little crazy at times.

“All I can say to our fans is we want you to be behind us, because when you’re behind us trust me, the reason we did so well last year was because of the connection we had with the fans.

“It is not a coincidence that when the fans are up for it, the team feels it.

“I know things have been said on social media that get around the dressing room, and it can have a negative impact.

“When they get behind us it’s like playing with an extra man, it really is.”