WORCESTER City chairman Dr Michael Sorensen has hit back at the critics who have accused the club of lacking ambition.

Dr Sorensen says the club will be backing manager John Barton to the hilt in his bid to bring success back to St George's Lane.

Worcester will continue to operate next season with one of the highest wage bills in the Dr Martens League, but there will still be scope to bring in fresh faces.

Dr Sorensen said: "There seems to be a feeling that we are just going through the motions season by season while we await the move to a new purpose-built stadium. This is nonsense.

"We will be improving the main stand over the next few months, there are many new commercial ideas -- as far as I am aware we are the first non-league club to have its own credit card -- and we want to get out of the Southern League as soon as possible. There is no complacency at any level of the club.

"While it is true that the club has a large overall debt, the wage bill for last season was either the third or fourth highest in the league.

"Some of the budget for next season is committed because players are on contract, but there is room for manoeuvre as we have already seen with Danny McDonnell and Mike Wyatt being signed, and we are looking to bring in more players."

Dr Sorensen also answered criticism of those who felt they should bring in a high-profile benefactor.

"A lot of people have been asking me why can't the club have a Cecil Duckworth or a Max Griggs. The answer is that over the years I have been chairman, there has been no genuine person who has approached the board.

"We have had several approaches from individuals who we have fully researched, in view of our recent past, and none of them have been up to the mark.

"The directors of the club are not rich individuals, as everyone knows, but are hard-working, genuine people who care about the club.

"But should the right person for the club come forward who would be prepared to inject substantial capital, there is nobody on the board including myself who is likely to oppose this."

Dr Sorensen says he is optimistic about the team's prospects next season, adding: "We are very upbeat and there is no reason not to be. We will have a decent team and I can't see anybody in the league that we should be frightened of."