Boss John Gregory admits Crawley will struggle to emulate the kind of success they have tasted over the last five seasons.

Reds achieved back-to-back promotions and reached the fifth round of the FA Cup two years in a row on the back of massive investment from the club’s anonymous owner.

Spending has been gradually reined in since Crawley reached League One three years ago while there were major cutbacks both on and off the field at the end of last season.

The board continue to pump money into the club just to balance the books but are unwilling to bankroll the kind of spending on players’ wages required to make a realistic push for promotion possible.

Gregory said: “We used to be the big fish and it is hard for supporters to appreciate and understand we are not the same club which could pay twice as much money in salaries to players than anybody else.

“In the past if Crawley wanted a player they would be able to get them because they paid top dollar. We are a small fish now in a big league so it is more difficult to reach the heights we did a few years ago.

“The board’s outlook has certainly changed. They are looking to survive now whereas in the past they were throwing money at it to achieve promotion.

“They have put in £800,000 this season and twice that much last season and that is just to stand still. That is an incredible amount of money when you are not getting anything back.

“The club spent an enormous amount of money just to finish 14th and it is highly unlikely they will spend that kind of money again so it is fair to say we are punching above our weight.”