Martin Ling has reassured United supporters that the club is still aiming for the play-offs and he regards that as a 'realistic' aim.

In his post-match interview after the defeat at Hayes & Yeading last weekend, Ling called for more consistency from his players and said, "They've got to be doing it consistently, week in, week out. Today they didn't do that and I've told them that. It's about a three-year project and finding out what players want to come along on the ride."

That comment was picked up by the press during the week and led to concerns from supporters that the season had already been written off by the club, but Ling has moved to counter those concerns and confirm that the play-offs are still in sight.

"A few of my comments were taken out of context about the three-year plan and it's certainly not the case that this season has been written off by me or anyone at the football club," he stressed.

"I have a three-year contract and there is a plan to stabilise the club, but that doesn't mean we've written this season off and people have made mountains out of molehills with that comment. When I first took the job I was told that we have to have realistic aims, and I said at that time we would do the best we could within the budget we have to spend, but of course we're not writing this season off.

"We're a third of the way through the season and I was asked a question after the match about needing three years, and before you know it I've written off this season," he continued.

"There is a three-year plan, I signed a three-year contract, there is infrastructure that needs to be put in place, but this season has never been written off and we'll do the the best we can with the budget we've got to spend. That's not writing off the play-offs.

"We need consistency and we'll plug on - we've had a bad result and we'll move on from it. This season is not over and we'll push as hard as we can to get into those play-offs this season, and it's a realistic target to do so."

Ling also spoke immediately after the defeat at Hayes about the reaction of some players to criticism, saying, "Any criticism from me or criticism for fellow players seems to be taken as a slight. If any player says anything they seem to go back at each other, but it's about being together out there as a team and as a unit and today wasn't good enough."

Again he felt his post-match comments were taken out of context and explained, "You come out after a game disappointed and quite raw and what I was trying to say was you want the players on the pitch talking to each other, getting on with it, pulling together and moving on to the next stage. But there seems to be a little bit of an argument before we move on to the next stage.

"I said to them that when you're on a football pitch the other players will be there to encourage you, to criticise you, trying to make you a bit better. No one's trying to criticise to make you worse, and they are listening but I don't like the bickering back at each other and trying to apportion the blame to someone else.

"We're in it together and we take the good collectively, the bad collectively, and we take it on the chin when it's bad."

Ling concluded, "Sometimes when you're raw after a defeat your comments can get blown out of proportion and you regret it afterwards."

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