POOLE Town boss Tom Killick revealed the "daunting prospect" of National South football would ensure his promotion celebrations would be short-lived.

After 12 years in the hotseat, Killick guided Dolphins back to non-league's second tier for the first time in 25 years by sealing the Southern League title with a 3-0 over Dunstable on Saturday.

But while the champagne flowed following a fifth championship in eight seasons, the long-serving manager struggled to stop thinking about the challenge that lies ahead.

Killick told the Daily Echo: "It is a daunting prospect when you see the likes of Basingstoke rooted to the bottom and Havant & Waterlooville struggling with an expensively-assembled squad.

"There is no point pretending, this will be the biggest step we have made and we are going to have to raise our levels and supplement things.

"That is for further down the line. We just want to enjoy the moment but when I say that, I only mean for a few days.

"This has been the dream for some time. When we were in Wessex One, I didn’t really want to be here. I felt I wanted to be in National South and now, we can finally have a go at that.”

With the job done, Killick released the shackles and laughed off claims made by Redditch United counterpart Liam McDonald over Poole’s spending power.

At the height of the controversy that saw the Reds deducted three points for fielding two suspended players in a match they had won, McDonald said “the likes of Poole, Leamington, Weymouth and Kettering have double, if not treble our budget”.

“The big-spending stuff makes me chuckle really,” said Killick. “I am pretty convinced I know the reality of the situation and how things compare with other teams and feel that makes our achievement even more remarkable.

“Just before deadline day, Redditch signed a couple of players and managed to bring in Sam Merson from Biggleswade.

“But I’m not particularly interested any more. People can say what they like because I know how we have had to fight for everything we have in terms of bringing in money and assembling the squad.”

Poole will receive the Southern League championship trophy immediately after tomorrow’s home match with Bideford (7.45pm).