Gary Setchell is adamant King's Lynn Town will not risk financial ruin in their search for success.

The Linnets failed to meet lower-level Josh Moreman's wage demands on Thursday night as they tried to convince Spalding United's top scorer to join their Southern Premier Division play-off push. Setchell's search for reinforcements looks set to continue but he admits continuing to balance the books remains the bigger priority.

'The expectation of the club (to be successful) was carried on before by unrealistic budgets which put the club under ground,' said the first team boss and general manager of Town, reformed in 2010 after the original Lynn went out of business due to money mismanagement.

'It isn't that same club anymore but the expectation is exactly the same, I realise that. They got silly with their money, they got players they couldn't afford, paying ridiculous amounts to them and ended up winding up. That's no good to anyone. That's never going to happen under this chairman (Buster Chapman) and my management.

'We are never, ever going to get wound up. We're going to have a competitive team and hopefully we can produce one or two top-quality players. I think Step Three is roughly where Lynn has been in the majority of its days but if we could sneak into Step Two at some point over the next two or three years we would love it, with bells on.'

Lynn, two points outside of the play-offs, visit a Poole side who top the table by six points – despite not playing since Boxing Day. The Linnets won the Walks reverse 3-2 and travel in high spirits having been boosted by the return of Jack Friend and Lee Smith.

Setchell, also speaking to his club's YouTube channel, added: 'We're not going there for a free-hit because I'm a competitive bloke and so are my players. I want to go there and get a result. If I get on the bus at 5pm and we've lost, that isn't any good to me. There's three points up for grabs. It's a tough task but we'll have a go. They've lost once there this season and we beat them here, so we know we can do it.'