King's Lynn Town will look to bounce back from a Boxing Day body blow when they make the short trip to Rowley Park.

The Linnets were left on the ropes for much of the second half during a disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to fierce rivals Kettering Town. But now Gary Setchell wants them to come out fighting as they prepare to take on St Neots Town in their latest Southern League Premier Division derby.

'St Neots are, probably by their own admission, underachieving at the minute,' said Lynn's boss, who hopes to include Jacek Zielonka in his squad after he missed the festive fixture because of a family illness.

'We are roughly where I think we should be. It's a hell of a hard game for us but it's one that we can enjoy. The pitch will be good so we'll be able to pass the ball.

'When you've got a group of youngish lads, the first goal is important and the second is a killer. That was on Saturday because no sooner than I took Sam Gaughran off to try and push for a goal, we conceded 10 seconds later.

'As a manager that sometimes happens but you may as well lose 4-0 rather having gone for it than just losing 2-0.

'There was 816 here and we didn't do ourselves justice because this team have been doing better than that. The work-rate was there and for large periods we defended well but we still conceded three goals, so how can you say we defended well?

'I said to Neil (Fryatt, assistant) that although we had lots of possession we didn't really create any chances, so we didn't do that well.

'There's a lot of all right stuff inbetween but in the key moments, in both boxes, Kettering were a lot better than us and you have to take it on the chin, it's as simple as that.'

Lynn, 13th, are two places above their out-of-sorts hosts, who are managed by former Wroxham manager David Batch. While Tom Meechan may top the league's scoring charts, the Saints' fortunes have been less impressive with a run of seven matches without a win sucking them back down the table.

New Neots owner Tom Kearns, who saw his team crushed 5-2 on Boxing Day at Biggleswade, said: 'The frustration is that the ability is clearly there, but we have been decimated by injuries and unavailability this season.

'If we can get a full squad back and make the play-offs it would be fantastic, but if it doesn't happen we will move on.

'David is under no pressure to do anything other than continue the job he has done in developing our first team.'