Telford work to give Shane Sutton a head start

The 29-year-old centre-half has netted in three of the last five games.

And the purple patch is the result of extra work on the training pitch.

“We had to address it because Shane hadn’t scored for a while and we weren’t getting enough goals from set-pieces,” said Cowan.

“We were defending them well, but not attacking them effectively.

“It’s something that we worked on and that problem has now been addressed.

“We wanted to be more dangerous from set-pieces and our approach – just changing the way we attack those balls into the box slightly – has paid dividends. I’m really pleased for Shane that he has got those goals over the past few games.

“Any successful team will have an out-and-out goalscorer – we have that in Daniel Udoh, and I don’t think Amari Morgan-Smith and Andre Brown are far off in that respect either.

“But you still want goals to come from different areas and Shane has given us that.”

Meanwhile, Cowan had some kind words for Zak Lilly, who had a ‘phenomenal’ first game on loan at Tamworth at Stourbridge last week.

Lilly has been sent there for a month to get more game time as he comes back fro injury, but is still firmly in the Bucks chief’s plans.

“By all accounts, Zak had a phenomenal first game at Tamworth,” said Cowan.

“We’ve taken him from a striker to a defender, and I need him to learn his trade.

“I’m a big believer in him. I took a big risk by converting him from a striker to a defender, but it’s something he’s revelling in.

“People have stopped thinking that I’m a mad man and have realised that centre-half is his position.

“He’s got a future, and I believe that should be at this football club.

“If he continues with the right attitude and application, if he continues to progress the way he is and keeps listening, we’re going to have a very good player on our hands.”