King's Lynn Town's plans for Saturday's big kick-off suffered a huge setback at the weekend when defender Stuart Wall sustained a serious knee injury.

Gary Setchell admitted the centre-back's injury - which happened during the warm up - overshadowed his side's excellent 3-1 victory at Soham Town Rangers. It's feared that Lynn's player and players' player of last season may have done his cruciate knee ligaments, and Setchell conceded it was a blow ahead of the forthcoming campaign.

The Lynn boss said: 'The football went well against Soham but it's irrelevant when you lose one of your best players.

'It's very disappointing. Stuart had just come back, had done all his physio and was basically just walking backwards to receive a little ball and he went over. He found a little rut in the pitch and it looks like he might have done his cruciate.

'It's disastrous for him and it's not great for us because he's a big part of what we're trying to do. To lose your player of the year a couple of days before the start of the season is a massive blow.'

Wall's misfortune was even crueler as he was making his return from a dislocated knee injury he suffered earlier this summer against Wisbech Town.

A first-half brace from Jason Turner and a stunning diving header from Dan Quigley sealed a deserved victory for Lynn who ended their friendlies with back-to-back victories. But while Setchell was delighted with his troops' display, he - and everyone in Lynn colours - was more concerned about Wall's plight.

Setchell said: 'We've got good centre-halves who did well on Saturday but you think more of the lad than the team at the minute. He's absolutely devastated. We won't know the full extent till he gets a scan but it's not easy to get one.

'We're not Man United. We can't just roll up to a hospital and get one and demand an MRI scan. I would expect at this stage he'll be out till past Christmas.'

Wall, who should learn the extent of his injury in the next couple of days, received support from his team-mate Rob Hughes on Twitter. The midfielder said: 'Heart goes out to Walley after he injured his knee in the warm up after coming back from the same injury. #toplad #speedyrecovery'.

The centre-back is Lynn's only injury doubt ahead of their opening Evo-Stik Division One South game of the season at home to Chasetown on Saturday.