AFC Fylde Manager Dave Challinor was disappointed with Saturday’s result against his former club Stockport County and sees it as a game where his side dropped two points rather than gained the one.

“I suppose last week against North Ferriby we looked at that game as a long trip and a point gained but immediately after this game, the initial thoughts were that it’s two points dropped” Challinor explained.

“It was a close game but we had at least three gilt edged opportunities where we should score” he added.  “In the three occasions there’s one that they’ve blocked where we should do better and with Lloydy’s two we don’t even make the keeper make a save so it’s disappointing and that’s the fine margins between winning and losing at any level really when it’s a tight game.”

One positive note for The Coasters was the clean sheet that was kept – the first in seven games.  However Challinor defended his team in terms of how the goals have been conceded of late.

“Obviously we’ve had an issue in the past few weeks with set pieces which has probably reflected bad on us defensively when in all honesty it’s not been the defenders that have really been to blame.

Challinor claimed his side have been defending excellently in open play and many fans would be quick to agree with that statement but he added: “Set pieces is a different thing as you’re relying on the mentality of everyone coming back and doing their jobs.   We did that against Stockport but the overriding disappointment is that we didn’t take one of our chances.”

In terms of his new loan signing Josh Wilson, Challinor was pleased with his debut performance.  “He’s a good player and I thought he did really well.  He’s a player who’s not played a lot of football lately, certainly not a full 90 minutes for a long time, so that will have done him the world of good.

“I played him in a little bit of a different role starting him in midfield but he can certainly do that job as a central striker as well so he gives us options and he’ll only get better the more minutes he gets in him.”

He’s still to find out if Josh can play against Hednesford Town in the FA Trophy this weekend and will speak to his parent club, FC Halifax Town, later this week to confirm if he can, therefore making him cup-tied for any future rounds if Halifax were to call him back.

For any player and manager coming up against your former club is a special occasion indeed and this game was no different for the Fylde boss.

“It’ll be a long time ago when I was there as a player at Edgeley Park and it’s a completely different scenario and surroundings around where they are and the level they’re playing at.

“I think you saw on Saturday that they’re a fantastically supported team and when you consider that three of their coaches never got to the game because of a crash on the M6 motorway there’d have been a lot more at Kellamergh Park than there actually was.”

He was full of praise for his former side and added: “they are the biggest club in this division by a mile in all honesty.  The setup that they play in, well that was a Championship ground less than ten years ago so I suppose they’ve got to find some stability and gradually build their way back to where they think they should be.”

Challinor’s next task is being able to pick a side for Saturday’s FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round clash with Hednesford Town at Kellamergh Park.

After making one change from the draw with North Ferriby, bringing in Josh and dropping Luke Denson to the bench, and another impressive performance from Danny Lloyd on the wing, Challinor will have some thinking to do as to whether he changes the side again as he tries to lead The Coasters into the First Round Proper for the first time in the club’s history.

Watch the full post match interview with Dave Challinor on the club’s YouTube channel or just follow the link above.