Telford boss Kevin Wilkin reflects on another busy week in transfer market

Experienced striker Reece Styche became the third departure of the month on Tuesday evening, with the 35-year-old joining divisional rivals Bromsgrove Sporting.

Popular midfielder Max Brogan’s good form in his first month at the Bucks has been rewarded with a loan extension that will keep the Scunthorpe man at the SEAH Stadium for another 28 days.

And manager Kevin Wilkin has also moved to secure the services of 23-year-old defensive midfielder Luke Rowe, who joins from Bromsgrove Sporting having previously been a part of the Telford squad that suffered relegation from the National League North in 2023.

Discussing the arrival of the midfielder, Wilkin said: “We’ve obviously lost Kyle who was a bit of a leader and a voice within the changing room, and Luke will help to fill that void. At 23-years-old he’s still got a lot of time and room for improvement throughout his career, and hopefully he’ll find that with us to help drive us forward.”

He continued: “He was the captain at Bromsgrove and came to us from Hednesford when I first took over here.

“He did pretty well considering he was in a side that was really struggling at the time, especially as he was making a step up in level at the time.

“He’s gone away and has been a really consistent performer for Bromsgrove over the last couple of seasons, so I’m looking forward to working with him again.”

Telford now boast an impressive set of midfield options, with Rowe joining Jordan Piggott, Jimmy Armson, Remi Walker, Harry Hawkins and Max Brogan in the engine room.

The Bucks are not so well stocked in attacking areas anymore though, with Reece Styche’s exit leaving in-form Matty Stenson the only recognised striker at the club.

Yet despite being short on options up top, Wilkin revealed he did not stand in Styche’s way when the Worcestershire-based side expressed an interest.

“It hadn’t been (in the pipeline) long for us really, but Reece may well have had a connection with them previously and known of their interest,” the Bucks boss said. “We didn’t want to stand in his way. He wanted to play more minutes and it’s fair to say he hasn’t played in as many games as he would’ve liked.”

Wilkin continued: “I didn’t want it to cause an issue between the pair of us, so it made sense to allow him to move on.

“He’s come in and scored some important goals for us and on the whole he’s done well for us.

“Such is the form of Matty (Stenson) and the shape that we play, he hasn’t been able to get the minutes he would’ve liked.

“There have been times where I probably should’ve given him more game time, but as we know hindsight is a wonderful thing.

“Whenever Reece came in he always gave his best for us, and we wish him well.”