Gary Setchell is expecting no adverse reaction from Sam Gaughran after King's Lynn Town's midweek misery.

The Linnets shipped three goals in 20 woeful first-half minutes at The Walks as they crashed to a disappointing defeat against out-of-form Merthyr Town. Centre-back Gaughran's night went from bad to worse when he was hauled off at the break but Setchell is confident his skipper will bounce back as Lynn's players look to deliver an immediate reponse.

'My players put a lot into Saturday (1-0 win at St Neots),' said Setchell, whose side host Chesham United this afternoon.

'My skipper didn't have his greatest night on Tuesday but he was magnificent on Saturday, there's no two ways about it. He was arguably the best player on the pitch at St Neots and on Tuesday it wasn't his night.

'Sometimes you have to withdraw people if they're having a bad night. He'll come back from it, no two ways about it.'

Lynn could have moved to within touching distance of the Southern League Premier Division play-off places with a win in midweek. And even though they managed to net two second-half goals, Setchell could only draw a few positives.

'That first 35 minutes was probably as bad as it's ever been in my 300 and however many games here,' added the man who, initially as a joint-boss, has always been in charge of Lynn since the club reformed in 2010.

'We came out second half but the game was dead. I said to the players: 'Don't let the two goals think that you did well second half because that is nowhere near good enough'.

'Apart from (Jacek) Zielonka and (Matty) Castellan, nobody reached their levels. It's as simple as that. It's painful, it's hurt us and it's a head-scratcher.'

Despite the loss, Lynn still remain just four points outside the top five. Chesham are seven points worse off but have played four matches less.

Setchell, who will be without Toby Hilliard (suspended) and Lee Smith (calf injury) today, added: 'I don't know why Merthyr are in the league position they're in as they're strong in all areas. Chesham are no different. People will look and go: 'Ooh, we've got Chesham, they're 17th.' Seventeenth? They beat Bristol Rovers away in the first round of the FA Cup.

'They lost a lot of games in that cup run as they were resting players. They should be a top-half side so we're in for another heck of a tough game. It's a massive game for us. If we win we've repaired a little bit of the damage from Tuesday. We should be looking to kick on now.'