Survival

He believes promotion is nothing but a distant midsummer's dream and with all the hype and promise of pre-season now gone, the club must face the brutal reality of a relegation dog-fight.

However, King says he has complete faith in his players and that with a dash of fresh blood he will lead them to safety and on to better things.

Chairman Terry Brady, who saved the club from administration last summer, had wanted an immediate return to Division One and yesterday, speaking to the Evening Advertiser, blamed the Town players for turning his dream into a nightmare.

Mr Brady backed his manager for success, but King knows he will stand or fall on the players' performances.

"I am one of them," said King. "I am the 12th player, the voice from the touchlines who cannot get on to the pitch. I will always be judged by their success or failure. Andy King is as good as the team who plays for him.

"When I took over from Colin Todd we were not second from top, we were in the bottom three of Division Two. The writing was on the wall that it was going to be a tough season.

"I still believe in the players and feel that we are in a false position at the bottom. They are a far better team than performances would suggest and I am confident we will get out of this position."

Saturday's defeat by Stoke summed up the feeling of disappointment and upset both chairman, manager, fans and players. It resulted in tough words being said in the changing room by King.

He said he was still looking for that touch of new blood, but said it had not been easy to attract talent to a struggling club which has a limited wage structure.

Six players have turned him down in the past few days despite three of the deals being agreed by Manchester City and West Brom.

He says he will not rush into the market again like the club did over the summer.

"I want to bring in three players who can strengthen our squad and then take us on to greater things," he said. "I am looking for people who can make a difference. That is the mistake we made in the summer.

"Our problem was that we brought in nine players but they were no better than the ones we already had."