It may have been a roller-coaster season for Tooting & Mitcham United boss Frank Wilson, but there has been at least one shining light.

Ahead of the mid-week games, the Terrors sat 16th in the Ryman Division One South table on the back of a three-match losing streak, culminating in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Sittingbourne.

Wilson says there have been overhaul changes to both the coaching staff and the players since the start of the season.

One player to have benefitted from the winds of change is striker Jake Baxter.

He had to be patient before getting his chance, but he has repaid Wilson with 20 goals in all competitions.

The boss said: “Jake is an excellent player and I felt sorry for him at the beginning of the season when we had one or two strikers who had been at the club a while, the likes of Dan Summers, who we had to find out about.

“It took us some time to get the balance of the squad right, and Jake was affected by that.

“There were games where he did not feature, and games where I was asking him to play out of position.”

He added: “I had to instil a confidence in him in getting him playing regularly – that’s all he needed, a run of games to show what he is capable of, and since then he has been in brilliant form.”

Wilson believes there is more to come for the front-man, and he is more than keen to help develop the talent.

But it is not just on the pitch that Wilson has time for Baxter.

He said: “He is a brilliant trainer, he has an excellent attitude and he does not give me any problems either on or off the pitch.

“He has become a firm favourite in the dressing room, with the fans and the back room staff, and he does it with little to say – it’s good to work with someone like him.”

He added: “There is more to come from the end of the season.”

Tooting & Mitcham go to Ramsgate this weekend.