Paddy Davitt King's Lynn joint boss Gary Setchell insists the sky is the limit ahead of his club's long awaited competitive bow in Saturday's United Counties League opener at Long Buckby.

Paddy Davitt

King's Lynn joint boss Gary Setchell insists the sky is the limit ahead of his club's long awaited competitive bow in Saturday's United Counties League opener at Long Buckby.

Town have impressed in pre-season, with more than 3,500 fans turning out to watch the new-look Linnets as senior football returned to The Walks after an eight month absence.

“I believe anything is possible and credit to the King's Lynn people who have supported us,” said Setchell. “Maybe they see a local management and local players and they can identify with that. We have 12 players who live within about 20 minutes of the ground.

“We have gone for King's Lynn boys, not just because of where they live but because they are good enough in our opinion to take the club to where we want to go. The two furthest players only live in Cambridge and I honestly believe there is now a lot of interest within the town and at the ground you can sense that friendly, family atmosphere.

“It's going to be tough putting 11 names on the team sheet for Buckby, but also leaving two or three out of the squad entirely. Like I said to Kevin (Boon) it's better to have that, than the situation of putting someone in who you think is not quite up to it. The management are there to make those decisions and whatever we decide it will be nothing personal.”

Setchell has already drilled into Town's squad the importance of coping with the weight of expectation.

“I told the lads what we achieve will be down to their mindset in every game,” he said. “You can do as much managing and coaching and pointing them in the right direction as you like but you can't turn it on and off like a tap.

“They will have to be on the mettle every single Saturday - whatever the game.

“I had it at The Walks when I played two levels higher under Tommy Taylor - we would get teams coming here and that was still everyone's cup final. They would put seven or eight behind the ball and if they did get a goal on the break they would hang on for dear life and that is when it becomes difficult and why we have stressed the importance of getting on the front foot and getting an early goal. Then the crowd are on your side and it's a whole better place to be rather than being scared to make mistakes.”

Setchell says Town's management are delighted at the speed they have unified a brand new squad.

“There were a number of issues we had to put right,” he said. “The lads had to get on quickly, and they do tremendously, we had to find out if could they play in front of a big crowd - well, I think they have proved that - and could they adjust to the style of football we want.

“We brought in a few unknown lads and questions were asked but maybe some people are starting to eat their words. We always knew they were good players for the level we are at - just because they weren't household names some might have doubted us but I think now people can see we did plenty of homework between January and May. Playing five of our first seven games away will be tough but we have a chance.”