BATTERED, bleeding and vilified Town boss Andy King will not fall on his sword however vociferous the calls grow for him to quit.

The manager ran a gauntlet of anger and derision throughout Saturday's defeat by Oldham but he says the 'King Out' brigade will not enjoy the satisfaction of seeing him walk.

He has made it clear that if his tenure is to come to an end, it will be as a result of a boardroom decision.

King is also adamant that he has no intention of being the manager that leads Town into Division Three.

He said: "The directors have to make a decision.

"This isn't a good time at this club. It's the lowest since I've been here. When we started the season I didn't expect this to happen.

"Sometimes you hit a brick wall in football. Maybe the obvious thing is in front of me. If it is, I can't see it."

But King knows the supporters are in unforgiving mood.

He said: "It is becoming more the majority than the minority. And, even if it's a minority, it's becoming infectious.

"I won't walk away because I'm not a coward. I also know I'm not a bad manager.

"I know as much as anyone in the game. I'm as good as anyone in the game. You can take that as far as you want. You can take that to Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I am no idiot. I have lost no belief in me or belief in my players.

"If the powers that be decide different, that's a matter for them.

"I have made brave decisions for this football club. But if the bravest decision is made from upstairs and that change would make this club better then I'll go with it.

"If someone else could come in do better a job and protect this football club then I would certainly give them the opportunity.

"But who will want to do it? Steve Coppell has turned it down after seeing the problems within.

"All I can do is keep working and keep believing until they pull the plug on me."

King said all efforts this week would be focused on finding ways to prevent a disastrous slide into Division Three.

He said: "Whatever road the discussions take, I'm not sure. I just know that I have to make the right choices to prevent this club from sliding any further.

"I won't take this club down and neither will these players. I can't walk away and admit defeat.

"But as for the fans. I stood up and took the stick.

"It's not nice and I don't like it.

"The difficult part is how to sway their opinion."

While fans are demanding change, King believes better times are around the corner whether he is in charge or not.

He said: "If someone else came in they would inherit a squad that will give them a better chance of success than I've ever had at this club.

"It's just that brick wall again. I'm bleeding and bleeding badly."

But as for football itself and the club's ninth defeat in 10 games, King said: "I thought we played ever so well in the first half but the second-half performance was not acceptable.

"I almost wish Oldham had not been reduced to 10 men.

"We just didn't take responsibility after the break. Players didn't play as they had been told to.

"They made individual decisions which were the wrong decisions."

King said the chronic lack of goals was there for all to see.

He said: "In general, your goals come from strikers. It is not a luxury I have had during all my time at this football club.

"We don't look like scoring goals and that's the frightening thing.

"At the other end, we have made a mistake and we've been punished.

"But where last week was an awful display, this was an irresponsible display.

"At the moment, I haven't got a smile or a lot of energy left in me."

The winner of the Supporters' Club 50-50 draw on Saturday was Tony Reeves with ticket number 260.