King's Lynn joint boss Kevin Boon today saluted skipper Jack Defty after his latest brace in the midweek UCL Premier Division 2-0 win at Wellingborough saw him close in on the 40-goal mark.

Defty's 38th of a productive campaign sealed a hard-fought double and kept Town within touching distance of long time leaders St Neots.

'He has been fantastic,' said Boon. 'The big fella is heading the ball in the net at one end and heading it away at the other. People might say he doesn't work hard enough at times, but if you analyse his work rate it is superb. He is back defending set pieces as well as being a menace in the other box. With Jack, you know he could always squeeze a bit more out on the fitness side and he probably would agree himself, but he leads by example on the pitch.

'He'll have his say in the dressing room as well and if something needs to be said or someone pulled up on the pitch he'll do that. When we talked to him at the start of the season about coming back, he might've had some doubts whether we could bring in the type of quality player we promised but he came in anyway and he has been a tremendous signing.'

Boon revealed Town's management had to deliver some home truths at half-time after a laboured first period.

'It was a good result but myself and Setch (Gary Setchell) gave them one of the biggest dressing downs of their lives at half-time,' he said. 'We might have been one up but Pedro (Alex Street) had to make three or four excellent saves and one or two other easier ones because the ball was getting into our box far too easily.

'It was unprofessional. They are paid to play every week and at this stage every game is a cup final. The second half was more like how we played at Newport Pagnell and Pedro only had a stop to make.'

Defender Pat Bexfield was withdrawn against Wellingborough with a tight hamstring.

'We're not too worried and we think we caught it just right,' said Boon. 'It's a little tight hamstring and he'll probably get a rest on Saturday as that will be a mix and match team. Danny White is going to join in training and he might go with the reserves or have 20 minutes in the first team squad. That is something we'll discuss with Setch over the next few days.'

Boon is still working overtime to bring in reinforcements but Bedford target Stuart Wall is set to decide his future in the summer.

'It's looking more likely he'll leave it until pre-season and come and train with us,' he said. 'We won't give up because he is a great player and before we stepped in there was already a queue of four or five clubs. He also has a chance to go into step two conference football so you can't blame the boy for wanting to take his time.

'It's hard to get these players out. People say to me why do we go public? For one, I think it's fair to let the paying supporters know what we are trying to do and, two, if a player wants to come he will. If someone wants to pick the phone up and offer more money that is down to them. I only want people who want to play for King's Lynn.

'In this day and age these things get out anyway so why not be honest with people? If they do come you know it's because they want to come – not because of the money. You see Norwich being linked with a player this week, so it happens at every level.'