Steve Ibbitson has warned there are more battles to face after Lewes finally staved off a winding-up petition.

The Rooks sent off money to pay the remainder of a debt to HM Revenue and Customs yesterday afternoon less than 36 hours before they were due in the High Court.

HMRC had been pushing for the club to be wound-up despite paying off £60,000 of a total debt of £107,000 since late August.

Lewes raised the outstanding sum through donations and long-term interest-free loans to secure their immediate future.

Now Ibbitson says they must address other debtors as soon as possible in the hope the club can go into next season without any money being owed.

First-team boss Ibbitson has reiterated the problems facing the club, with little money coming in due to matches being postponed by the recent cold weather.

He hopes the goodwill shown to raise the money in such a short space of time may prompt other people to invest in the club to resolve their problems once and for all.

There have been a number of people interested in investing for a while but it is believed they were reluctant to do so with a winding-up petition hanging over the club.

Rooks are believed to owe about £45,000 to various other parties, a figure which has been reduced since the start of the season.

Ibbitson said: “We are aiming to clear all of the club's debts and ideally by the end of the season. That is our next target.

“Now the biggest black cloud hanging over the club has passed we are hoping people will come forward and help us in whatever way they can to really push the club forward.

“We start off again at a very difficult time. We haven’t had a game for ages, which means no income coming into the club.

“We don’t kid ourselves that this is the end of the road. It is just one big hurdle we have cleared but there are more to come.

“People mustn’t believe the club has cleared everything.

“We have still got a lot of battles to win. We still have other debts to clear and these are just as important.”

Lewes are up to date with their VAT payments for the current financial year and their coffers will be boosted by their FA Trophy run which has already netted £9,000, which they will not get until they are out of the competition.

Their second round tie away to Kidderminster will take place next Tuesday after it was postponed for a second time yesterday, which means next Wednesday's home cup tie with Hastings is off.

The next home game is a clash with relegation rivals Weston-super-Mare at the Dripping Pan, when getting a big crowd and three points will be vital to the club.

Rooks remain in the bottom three in Blue Square south despite a resounding 6-2 win over promotion hopefuls Dover on Boxing Day.

Ibbitson insists ensuring they avoid another relegation is just as important to the club.

He said: “We need to get the club on a sound financial footing, owing nothing to anybody.

“That is my target and that is the target of the management committee as well.

“The two big things for us to come out the end of the season with is for the club to be in a much better financial position and to still be playing at this level.

“What we have done this week is a big step towards the former but there is still more work to do.”