MANAGER John Snape insists there has been no indication of a fire sale at Worcester City in spite of a turbulent week.

Joint-boss and striker Lee Hughes quit last night to take a playing role at Halesowen Town hours after chairman Anthony Hampson announced the club may have to go “fully amateur” to afford a new stadium.

That news came on the back of more than £290,000 in losses for the financial year up to the end of May 2017, City’s final season in National North before taking voluntary relegation to the Midland Football League.

Snape took the reins on a caretaker basis in January 2017 and within a fortnight faced the prospect of his entire squad being made available for transfer but there has yet to be any sign of a repeat this time.

The rest of Snape’s backroom team is unchanged with a decision on whether or not to replace Hughes on or off the pitch to be reached in the coming days.

“We are at the club until further notice,” said Snape.

“The dust hasn’t settled from Lee going yet but our focus is on getting the side ready for a difficult trip to Shepshed on Saturday.

“For now we will let the dust settle and I will be speaking to the chairman for an update on the short-term plan until the end of the season. The plan is for it to be discussed before the weekend.

“The bottom line from my point of view is that we have five matches in 15 days to prepare for, everyone will be required and my mind has to be on that.”

Snape said he would leave Hughes to explain the reasons for his exit.

“Lee came to training and said what he had to say,” he added.

“He did it in a proper manner and the players have to digest that. I haven’t had any feedback from that yet.

“A lot of the players would have slept on it but hopefully, all of them will stay on board and crack on until the end of the season. I don’t anticipate any players going unless they get an offer that suits them.

"It is not all doom and gloom, we are still in a very good position and our target is very much on having a good end to the season with the 14 games we have left.”

Asked whether City faced immediate cuts to the playing budget, Snape said: “I haven’t had that conversation yet.”

On Hampson’s indication that City could go “fully amateur” next season, Snape said: “The chairman has made his statement. The timing was not perfect but he felt it was something he needed to get off his chest.

“Hopefully, all of the negativity out there at the moment will bring a bit of positive investment into the club to help the budget next season.

“I have contacted the chairman. We are still talking about what the short-term plan with regard to what has come out in the press but at the moment, I am concentrating on getting the side ready for Saturday along with the rest of the backroom staff.

“Hopefully, we can overcome the adversity this week has brought.”