BRACKLEY TOWN boss Kevin Wilkin wants to turn draws into wins - starting tomorrow when the Saints face Chester at St James Park.

Having once again secured a play-off spot last season, Brackley have made a slow start to the 2020-21 campaign and are currently 16th in National League North with six points from the same number of matches.

Three of those six games have ended in draws and former Wrexham boss Wilkin, who has an FA Cup second round trip to Tranmere Rovers to look forward to next Friday, is confident Brackley will start heading in the right direction when he gets players back from injury.

"We have done okay in the FA Cup, the draw has been a little bit kind to us," said Wilkin.

"But I have got 13 players at the moment and it has been a bit stop-start this season; not just because of that because everybody seems to have had more injuries this season than perhaps in the past.

"It is a challenge on that front and there has been a bit of loss of form to one or two of the players.

"We were a little bit off the pace at the start of the season and we lost on Tuesday (2-0 at home to Kidderminster) but we have drawn a few games that we should have won.

"If two out of those three are wins, your position is a whole lot kinder to you."

Brackley, who won the FA Trophy in 2018 under Wilkin, are used to challenging at the top of the table and Wilkin is optimistic they will be again this term.

"We have been really consistent over a long period now and we understand what we need to get back to, and that is the challenge," said Wilkin.

"Hopefully we will pull it around once we get everybody fit and together moving in the right way."

But Wilkin feels the St James' Park pitch has not helped his side this season.

"They have put no money into the playing surface and with the greatest respect, our pitch is not the pitch that it was a year or 18 months ago," said Wilkin.

"It is hard for us to play our game on that surface now and it is an added challenge that we probably don't need right now."

Although he hopes to turn the corner tomorrow, Wilkin knows that ninth placed Chester - back in action after a three week break due to Covid 19 protocols - will provide a tricky test.

"Chester are a massive club and we have had some good games with them in the past," said Wilkin.

"They will always be a good test, Bernard (Morley) and Anthony (Johnson) know what they are doing and they have been successful at the level.

"A lot of respect for Chester and we know it will be tough for us but if we play with a bit more control than we did on Tuesday, we will have a chance."