Chief executive Michael Dunford has warned further cutbacks are inevitable at Crawley unless a suitable buyer is found for the club.

Reds were put up for sale two years ago on Monday but nobody has come forward who has been able to prove they have the best interests of the club at heart.

Dunford admits Crawley require fresh investment with the current owners unwilling to continue to plug the gap in the budget created by dwindling crowds.

Reds were forced to make significant cutbacks at the end of last season when they closed the club’s youth academy, made a host of redundancies and slashed the playing budget.

Despite those savings Crawley are still struggling to balance the books with attendances down by 28% this season as Reds battle to stay in League One.

Dunford said: “The board have consistently said they will soldier on until a suitable buyer is found but they can’t keep putting in their own money indefinitely.

“We have to be become more self-sufficient and rely less on outside funding. We have been working towards that for a while now but it is inevitable there will be further cutbacks in the future.

“At the start of this season we were budgeting for gates of just over 3,000 and they are now down to 2,500 so it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to work out the consequences.

“Our average home gate is the fourth lowest in the Football League so in all areas of the club I would imagine there will be more cuts.”

SEE TODAY'S ARGUS FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL DUNFORD