SOUTHERN LEAGUE

CHIPPENHAM Town players will travel to Tiverton tomorrow knowing one more poor performance could spell the end of their careers at Hardenhuish Park.

Manager Darren Perrin revealed this week he may be forced to axe another member of his squad to keep within his wage budget.

The Bluebirds have already released Steve Jenkins, who failed to start a competitive game for the club, Nick Stanley and Matt Rawlins this season.

Perrin said he has yet to decide who will stay and who will go, but confirmed a departure is likely within the next seven days.

He said: "Nothing has happened this week, but by next week there's a possibility I might have to get one player out.

"The players know we should have more points on the board by now. Some of them need to produce better performances than they are doing at the moment."

Perrin could not confirm whether Chippenham's shock defeat to Slimbridge in the FA Cup, which cost the club £3,750 in prize money, had forced the board's hand.

The Bluebirds boss said a combination of factors had conspired to pull on his purse strings.

"Of course there is a knock-on effect from the cup defeat, but the club does not budget for cup runs.

"If you do that you leave yourself wide open. Anything can happen in the cup and the whole season could be up in the air if you lose in the first round."

Perrin's stated ambition is to lead Chippenham into the Conference South and beyond, but he recognises this is a long-term goal for the club.

Financial stability is paramount in non-league football and if that means another player on the chopping block, Perrin is willing to accept that.

"To be fair to the board they are not going to pay silly money to chase a dream," he said.

"This club will be here in 100 years, long after you and I have gone. I can understand where they are coming from and I will try to abide by that."

After three consecutive defeats the pressure is mounting on Perrin to deliver. But he is keen to take the weight off the players' shoulders if it will aid their performance.

"I'm not going to say the game against Tiverton will make or break our season, because it won't. The players don't need that kind of pressure.

"What we need at the moment is a little self-belief. We've had a good few years at this club but nobody has any divine right to win football matches.

"We've got to go back to the training ground and work hard and make it happen. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us."

Perrin does not believe promotion is beyond is squad, despite the Bluebirds languishing 10 points behind early leaders King's Lynn in 13th place.

He said: "Last season ourselves and Salisbury were running away with the league, but King's Lynn and Bath City put great runs together to reel us in.

"We have to believe we can do the same thing this season. We've still got a very strong dressing room with plenty of winners in there.

"Nobody likes losing and hopefully we can start to turn the corner with a win on Saturday."