Crawley boss Steve Evans has turned down a second offer for striker Charlie Ademeno.

The League One club made what Evans desribed as a "derogatory" bid for the 21-year-old after he scored his sixth goal in three games in the 2-0 win over Eastbourne Borough on New Year's Day.

It came just days after another League One outfit had seen their offer for Ademeno rejected after Evans consulted with co-owners Bruce Winfield and Susan Carter.

Evans said: "One League One manager made what I would describe as a derogatory offer and I told him that in a professional way.

"But Charlie's opportunity to play at a higher level again will come."

Whether it happens this month remains to be seen but for the second transfer window running Evans faces the prospect of losing his top scorer.

A year ago Reds sold Jon-Paul Pittman to Wycombe and several clubs, including Southampton, Gillingham and Millwall, had representatives at Priory Lane last week.

They saw Ademeno follow his goal in the first meeting with Borough and his four-minute hat-trick against Grays with the opening goal as Crawley extended their unbeaten away record to four games.

All six of Ademeno's goals in the space of six days were scored in the first seven minutes of the match.

Evans said: "His finish for the first goal on Friday was sublime, he just passed it past their goalkeeper which gave us a great start.

"There were a number of clubs watching him and they can only have been impressed because he is better than what they have already got."

Although Reds have significantly reduced their debts in the past year thanks to a drastic reduction in Evans' budget and the sale of five players both Carter and Winfield are investing around £30,000 of their own money each month to help pay the bills because of averages gates of around 800 and a shortfall in commercial revenue and TV income following the collapse of Setanta Sports.

The club's board met at the weekend to discuss the latest Ademeno bid and Carter admitted they are unlikely to turn down a serious offer for him.

She said: "As a club we don't want to sell players like Charlie but can we afford to turn down a serious offer for him? Unfortunately no."

Evans acknowledges that the situation is largely out of his hands.

He added: "Every player has his price and I have said before that ultimately the decision will be down to the owners.

"Charlie is a lovely kid to work with and if he keeps working as hard as he has done in the last few games his rewards will come."

Meanwhile, Evans could have a full-strength squad to pick from for Saturday's FA Trophy trip to Chelmsford with both Danny Forrest and Chris Giles due to return after injury in Wednesday's reserve-team game against Gillingham at the Broadfield Stadium (7pm).