Wilkin confident Brackley’s fortunes will turn

The Saints were on the end of a shock 3-0 home defeat to Farsley Celtic last weekend, although they weren’t helped by a sixth-minute red card for midfielder Shepherd Murombedzi.

The loss means Brackley have now suffered three defeats in a row following their opening-day success over Scarborough Athletic.

They sit in the unusual surroundings of the lower echelons of the early standings in the Vanarama National League North as they gear up for a bank holiday weekend double-header.

Wilkin takes his team to Gloucester City on Saturday before they host Kidderminster Harriers on Bank Holiday Monday.

And the Brackley boss said: “We will get together this week and work hard and prepare in the way that we do.

“We haven’t quite nailed down the right formula and that bit of consistency yet. As we’ve said before, that can take a bit of time.

“There’s been a big transition of players and it can take a bit of time for things to bed in.

“We should have taken a point against King’s Lynn but conceded a late goal and, again, it’s easy for me to say it, but with 11 men I think we would have fancied our chances of getting something out of the game with Farsley.

“These are the challenges we have to deal with. We are always honest and we will always try to do the consistent things and if you stay that way, eventually it will come around for you.”

Wilkin described the red card given to Murombedzi early on in last weekend’s game as “debateable”.

But Brackley still had their chances with Callum Stead missing a penalty before Farsley opened the scoring late on in the first half before adding two more after the break.

And, despite the loss, the manager was left impressed by his team’s attitude after that early setback of going down to 10 men.

“I think the sending-off was debatable,” Wilkin said.

“But if you give the referee a chance to make a decision, they want to get involved and that’s the route he decided to go down.

“On reflection, I thought it was a little bit harsh. I don’t think it was as reckless as he felt at the time.

“I was really pleased with the attitude of the lads after that. We didn’t shut up shop. We tried to win the game and that was really pleasing.

“We played for long parts of the game and managed the ball well. We got a penalty and passed that moment up and we had a good chance from four yards where we should be scoring.

“If you take those chances and take Farsley out of their comfort zone, I think it could have been a different story.”