Help with lower league TM tactic

Needing help selecting a formation to best utilise my target man for a lower league team (league 1) having partnered him with a poacher up top, I've decided to go 442 due to the players I have already and have no money to get anybody else in...

My question is what's the best type of players to use out wide, should I play 2 wingers or wide midfielders or a mixture of both? And what instructions can I give them to benefit the target man?

With a target man in a 4-4-2 formation, I would use two wingers. Running down the flanks and crossing to your two forwards is going to be your bread and butter. Wide midfielder is a more generic role that can be modified through player instructions to play like a winger, but a winger is most likely what you want anyway.

i've just set up an attacking 4 as: Pair of Wingers/Support. Target Man (set just left of centre) and a central Shadow Striker. Set the TM to Move into Channels. Its in a 4-2DM-3-1 system though. The front 4 work very well.

The rest is a a REG/DM(d) pair and then WB(a) either side of a BPD & CD.

I can't disagree with what's been posted, just a note to keep in mind that you are wanting the play the mainly go through your targetman, and he will attract the ball. So yes, wide play and crosses in- I assume he is good in the air, and strong, so you'll want to float your crosses and aim for target man. You can also vary space a bit by playing one winger more defensively and play an overlap on that side. The main thing is to be able to get balls in to the TM.

Needing help selecting a formation to best utilise my target man for a lower league team (league 1) having partnered him with a poacher up top, I've decided to go 442 due to the players I have already and have no money to get anybody else in...

My question is what's the best type of players to use out wide, should I play 2 wingers or wide midfielders or a mixture of both? And what instructions can I give them to benefit the target man?

I use a 442 in LLM and a 433. You need to decide what kind of players you can get on frees. When using a 433 I really depend on my AML/AMR to carve out and stretch the backline which means that pace acceleration, crossing and off the ball is vital, and a decent measure of composure. These players inevitably find themselves in scoring areas.

I am not a big user of TMs, however if I were to use one, then the TM would need to have the right attributes to hold up and distribute. In terms of instructions, they should be able to find the pockets of space, you may want to choose "move into channels" as an instruction to encourage them. If they have low OTB then it will be an issue.