AFC Fylde striker earns manager's backing

The 25-year-old, who became Fylde’s club record signing when joining them from Rochdale last October, netted the only goal as the Coasters won 1-0 at Boston United seven days ago.

Speaking after that game, Murray said he’d had a feeling in the previous few weeks that Charman would contribute in their National League North title hunt.

When asked what he meant by that prior to this afternoon’s game with Leamington, Murray told The Gazette: “With the formation we’ve played since I’ve been here, he hadn’t had a run as a number nine.

“We’d had Mo Faal from West Brom, who did brilliantly for us, then Siya Ligendza took over and he had a big impact as well.

“Charms played in other positions and did well, but he hadn’t got in a position to score goals, but – the last couple of weeks – I had a feeling something would click.

“That sums him up though, his attitude and his willingness to play in other positions and be effective, along with his work rate.

“He’s a really good professional and he deserves his chance as a centre-forward.”

Charman’s strike gave the Coasters a much-needed three points following defeats in their Easter matches to Spennymoor Town and Kidderminster Harriers.

It leaves them one point behind leaders King’s Lynn Town heading into the penultimate weekend of fixtures, with Fylde also having a game in hand at play-off chasers Curzon Ashton next Tuesday.

Whoever finishes second of King’s Lynn or Fylde can feel disappointed with both teams looking likely to have posted more than 90 points come the end of the campaign.

Wins from all three of their matches will give Murray’s players the title and the manager has taken confidence in their recovery from the Easter defeats.

“We’re in the position to be able to have it in our hands,” he said.

“It’s up to us. We had a bit of a disappointing weekend over Easter, so it was important to bounce back which the players did with their performance at Boston.

“To be fair, we haven’t really had a period where results haven’t gone our way but we had a great week leading up to Boston.”