KIng's Lynn Town: Match Preview

The Bucks return to Enterprise National League North action on Saturday, 26th September, facing King’s Lynn Town in a 3 pm kick off.

Kevin Wilkin’s side will be smarting from their Emirates FA Cup exit at Worksop Town in midweek and eager to bounce back to the recent league form they enjoyed before their two meetings with the Tigers.

Recent Encounters

Telford have only beaten the Linnets once in recent years, which came last season at the SEAH Stadium, where the Bucks won 2-1 after first-half goals from Matt Stenson and Jamie Meddows. Other recent fixtures between these two sides have seen The Linnets win 3 games stretching back to 2019. The only draw between the clubs also came last season in the first game of the season, where a Matt Stenson penalty was cancelled out by a Michael Gyasi goal in the second half.

Lines on The Linnets

King’s Lynn Town have been at step two since their relegation from the National League’s top division in the 2021/2022 season. The Linnets have had a solid start to the current campaign, winning four of the opening nine games and netting 15 goals along the way. This currently finds them in 12th place, sitting on 13 points, 4 more points than the Bucks. In their last 5 games, they’ve won three, defeating Scarborough Athletic, Darlington and Chorley.

They too exited the Emirates FA Cup in the second qualifying round, defeated 2-1 at The Eyrie by NLN rivals Bedford Town last Saturday.

One reason for this seasons early success for the Linnets is their top goal scorer, Jesse Nwabueze, who has scored 6 goals, including goals in the last 4 league games coming against: Scarborough Athletic, Darlington, Hednesford and most recently, Chorley. Keeping him quiet could be a key to the Bucks’ enjoying success on the day.

Top Scorers

Nwabueze – 5

Crane, Hall-Johnson, Hamilton – 2.

Ubaezuonu – 1.

Last Time Out

Manager Paul Caddis made the following selection for the Linnets’ last match, the 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Bedford Town.

G: Hollingshead.

D: Hall-Johnson, Jones, Mills, Warne, , Mohammed.

M: Clunan (captain), Scott, Tunnicliffe.

F: Nwabueze, Love.

The Home Side

The Bucks improved league form has come thanks to a new formation and change of tactics, playing a 3-5-2 formation with new signing Mal Benning as a wingback. Benning’s display earned him a National League North ‘Team of the Week’ nomination, an achievement matched by one of the Bucks’ opponents this weekend; King’s Lynn centre-back Zak Mills, who switched from Boston United in the summer, also made the list after a stellar display in their home win over Chorley. Zak Millis, and the rest of the Linnets backline have kept 3 clean sheets this campaign, which is the same as Telford’s rearguard.

An injury to starting goalkeeper Lewys Benjamin has meant Telford have had a familiar face in goal in their last three fixtures. Brandon Hall has occupied the Bucks goal and tomorrow should mark a special milestone for Brandon, who is set to make his 100th appearance for the club, joining a select number who have made it to three figures for the Bucks since reforming in 2004.

The Bucks can pull to within a point of the Linnets with a victory; Kevn Wilkin will hope that several of Tuesday’s injury absentees will be fit to return, and that a tough 120 minutes in the legs of those who took part will have eased, ready to face the Linnets challenge.

Colours

Bucks:

Shirt: White

Shorts: White

Socks: White

Linnets:

Shirt: to be confirmed

Shorts: tbc

Socks: tbc

Match Officials

Referee: Kavan Hurn.

Assistant Referee: Keir Sheppard.

Assistant Referee: Thomas Viles.

Fourth Official: Max Underwood.

How to Follow

If you can’t be at the game, you can follow the events in several ways.

The Live Game Centre on our smartphone app and website will have live text updates.

Our X feed on social media will also carry text commentary, whilst our Facebook and Instagram feeds will provide updates on major events, such as team news, goals, and the half-time and full-time scores.