'He will have to force his way back in' - boss on AFC Telford's midfield options

The former Birmingham City midfielder had cemented himself as a crucial cog in the Telford squad with his performances since the second half of last season, but recently has missed nearly a month through injury.

And with loanees Harry Hawkins and Max Brogan impressing in Walker’s place, the Telford boss insisted the 22-year-old will really need to take his chance when it comes.

“(Hawkins and Brogan) are showing a fantastic amount of desire and effort in there, and as young men they maybe just need a bit of help with their decision making at times,” Wilkin said. “Both are really committing to it and performing well for us.”

The boss added: “Remi’s been out through injury – nothing more than that – and fortunately we’ve had players who have been able to go in there and fill the spot and provide competition.

“He showed fantastic consistency towards the end of last season and was a major player for us, and that’ll obviously be the intention for us now to try and get him to those levels again.

“It’ll be up to Remi to force his way back in, and when he gets his opportunity, which will certainly come along at some stage, he needs to prove that he can do as well as, if not better than, the players who were previously playing there.

“Any side needs that competition for places. He’ll definitely provide it and hopefully the others provide it for him.

“Between them if they keep pushing the quality of what they are forward it’ll only improve us as a group.”

Walker’s chances of reclaiming a spot in Telford’s side have been boosted by veteran midfielder Jimmy Armson making a successful transition to first-choice right midfielder, where he has forged an impressive goal-scoring relationship with star striker Matty Stenson.

And the 35-year-old admitted he has enjoyed playing a number of different roles for the Bucks this season.

“Since playing in a more advanced role, and I think people may have been surprised to see me playing wide on the right recently, I feel like I’ve started building a good relationship with Stenno,” Armson said. “Quite a few of his goals will have been assisted by me, and a few of mine have been assisted by him, so that good relationship is starting to form.

“At the start of the season I made some mistakes playing as a holding midfielder when I was probably trying too hard, and I feel like I’ve found it a little bit easier on the right because there are less decisions to make compared to playing centrally.”

Armson was also quick to talk up Telford’s current midfield options, and admitted he is relishing being one of the most experienced heads in the dressing room after a number of senior exits in recent weeks.

“It wasn’t nice for me to see Kyle (Storer) leave because he’s one of my mates,” he explained. “Equally, I don’t think he was going to play as much as he wanted to, and he’s obviously left to go and do that.

“I hope he goes on and does alright, but not too well as I don’t want Kettering to win the league.”

Armson added: “I’ve built good relationships with a lot of the lads in midfield.

“I travel in with Max, Remi and I work together, Piggo (Jordan Piggott) is a great lad and Harry, bless him, is quite quiet so I’m still trying to pull that out of him.”