'You can't perform at your best if you sit on a bus for five hours' - Lynn boss

The Linnets are heading back to the National League North following relegation, but Widdrington says there must be no dropping of standards if they are to make an immediate return.

That will mean regular overnight stays before long away trips and the use of more facilities, such as a swimming pool, locally,

Widdrington also suggested the main training base could be moved further away from King’s Lynn.

“It is something I am very big on,” said Widdrington, who takes his team to Wealdstone on Saturday for their final National League fixture of the season.

"I think it is really important your preparation is as good as your recuperation. If you don’t do the one the second isn’t right.

“Ultimately it is the bit in the middle that is most important.

“Because of where we are geographically, there aren’t that many close games. Peterborough came up and that makes it a little bit more local, and you have got your Ketterings and your Bostons not a million miles away. But your Chesters and Herefords and Blyths - they are non-negotiables as far as I’m concerned. That has to be built in from now as part of the spend and the project for next season.

“If the aim is to bounce back, which I am sure it is, then we have got to prepare as well we would do in this league. It takes an hour to get anywhere on the bus and from that point of view everywhere is a couple, and you can’t perform at your best, if we are trying to prepare you correctly all the way through the week and then we sit you on a bus four or five hours on a Saturday morning. I just can’t see how that can be the best preparation. It will be something that will we talk about when we go further down the line with the chairman in terms of the football spend.”

King's Lynn Town head to Wealdstone looking to avenge a home defeat back in September (Image: Ian Burt)

Widdrington and assistant manager Hugo Langton have begun planning for next season.

“I have had meetings and I have got meetings,” said Widdrington, speaking to the club's official channels. “Hugo has had meetings with different facilities in and around the area and if it meant moving the training to somewhere slightly further afield but closer to the network of motorways, recruitment becomes easier. It is all something you have to think about in the grand scheme of things.

“Don’t get me wrong, it is all about results on a Saturday, but if you haven’t prepared correctly in every way, shape or form that is is humanly possible for you to do then you can’t expect the results to be as consistent as you want to be.”