AFC Totton chairman John Dawson denies there is a crisis brewing at Testwood Park.

Although he admits there has been a delay in finalising the playing budget after talks with former Winchester City directors Mike and Rob Smith fell through, Dawson stressed: "If people want to draw conclusions, perhaps erroneously, that's up to them. But they shouldn't set fire to things when there is no fire."

With many Totton players yet to be tied down for next season and three - Wayne Shaw (Eastleigh), Danny Barker (Andover) and Darren Curtis (Lymington & New Milton) - having already moved to pastures new, there have been rumours that manager John Robson is considering his future after less than six months at the helm.

Robson is currently on holiday in Gran Canaria, but Dawson clarified: "I have spoken to him this week and the budget will be finalised soon.

"The Smiths will not be joining us, but we have extended our sponsorship with Trant for another year and are in negotiations with one or two others."

The Smiths, whose Southampton Model Centre business is based in Totton, have been scouring the area for a club ever since parting company with Winchester City in December.

It is believed that, rather than simply ploughing in sponsorship money, they wanted a hands-on role in the running of a club and were keen to link up again with former Winchester boss Robson at Totton.

Dawson said: "The Smiths indicated some considerable time ago that they were interested in assisting a club. However, it wasn't until recently that we were able to clarify the nature of that assistance.

"I can't go into detail, but their offer was conditional. It was not just a sponsorship and, after a great deal of discussion, we were unable to arrive at a situation where they would be able to assist us. We parted as friends."

The knock-on effect was that Totton's budget preparations for the new Wessex League campaign were delayed, making life doubly difficult for Robson to discuss terms with his players for next season.

Goalkeeper Shaw, who turned down an offer to become Robson's assistant manager, revealed: "John put in a lot of hard work at the back end of last season and feels a bit let down because the budget hasn't been there.

"I feel so sorry for him because he hasn't been able to make the players any firm offers."

Shaw, whose move to Eastleigh ends a happy five-year stay at Totton, confessed: "It's gutting. It could have been a new era for me working alongside John, but I couldn't wait around. The way things have panned out behind the scenes at Totton is not for me."