Lowestoft Town have got to convince manager Ady Gallagher they retain ambitions for National League football before he commits to the Blues.

The Trawlerboys have battled against the odds to an 11th-placed finish in the Ryman League Premier this season but that only tells half the story.

Lowestoft lost their academy thanks to Danny Crow's Road2Pro programme taking their scholars away whilst financial cutbacks have made it difficult for Gallagher to put out a bare XI at times this season.

The Blues chief is not prepared to let this situation continue and wants to know what the ambitions of the club are before saying whether he will continue as manager.

'I need to get a feel of where the club is going as I'm still ambitious as a manager,' said Gallagher, who is scheduled for talks with chairman Gary Keyzor before the club's Suffolk Premier Cup final against Needham Market next month. 'I want the shackles to be taken off a little bit.

'I want to hear that the club is moving in a positive direction and, if the club can't offer that, then they need to be open about it.'

Gallagher realises that without a fresh injection of cash, he will have a similar budget to this season but wants to know what the long-term plan is to get back into the National League, which the Blues were relegated from last year.

'I'm not asking for us to be Billericay – if someone wants to come into the club and put a lot of money in then great but I also want the club to be able to grow,' added Gallagher.

'We've had a lot of years of expectation and that's difficult to deal with.

'We need a vision to get back to Conference football – not just a battle for survival. I don't want to continue with years of struggle just because I love the club. It's not fair on me and it's not fair on the supporters.'

Lowestoft were relegated from National League North last year and Gallagher wants a plan formulated to get back there.

'Personally I've had a taste of the of the Conference and I want to keep striving to get back there,' he said. 'I think the club has got to put foundations in place to get back up to the Conference and be ambitious enough to aim for that.'