Gary Setchell has blasted the internet snipers he believes are trying to undermine his King's Lynn Town tenure.

The Linnets' boss – who took over as sole manager of the reformed club in October 2011 – has steered Town up two tiers of the non-league ladder and enjoyed a more-than-decent start to this season. Yet some online posters criticised the passionate boss after back-to-back defeats in the run up to Saturday's FA Trophy tie with Stourbridge and questioned whether he could still get the best out of his players.

His charges delivered the perfect response by winning 3-1 at The Walks in the second qualifying round and Setchell wasted no time in laying into his hidden critics.

'I'm nearly 250 games into my Lynn career. I've got about a 70pc win-strike rate. If people don't think I can motivate my players that's their problem,' he said.

'A supporter who I respect very much pulled me to one side after Tuesday (3-0 League Cup loss) and said; 'Setch, this is the worst I've seen for 30 years' and that hurt me. These people on the forum, are they Lynn supporters? They're under false names.

'I speak to supporters who come past my dugout at 2pm every Saturday. They have a chat, I'm always there to have a chat, they ask questions about the team and previous performances. People who go under aliases, you don't know who they are. They could be Wisbech supporters, ex-missus' of mine, they could be people I've upset at work. They mean nothing to me.

'If they haven't got a name how can I take anyone seriously?'

A George Thomson brace and strike from Gregg Smith earned Lynn £3,250 in prize money and a place in today's third qualifying round draw.

'We've played about 16 games at home and I reckon we've won 13 and they're still not happy,' added Setchell.

'I can't do anymore. We lost in the Doodson (League) Cup, I'm really sorry for that. We won in the FA Trophy and I'm delighted for everyone at the football club. The chairman, myself, the players, the fans, even the reporters.'

Video provided by King's Lynn Town's official YouTube channel.