BOSS Tom Killick claimed the departure of Abdulai Baggie was “not ideal” and was “sorry that things haven’t worked out” for the winger.

Baggie was one of two Dolphins departures last week, with striker Tony Lee joining AFC Totton on a short-term loan deal.

Former Tranmere winger Baggie joined Poole in March 2016 but found his game time limited at the Black Gold Stadium this season.

And while Killick spoke highly of the Sierra Leone international’s ability, he admitted Dolphins had to “live within our means”.

Speaking about the 25-year-old’s exit, the Dolphins manager told the Daily Echo: “Abdulai wasn’t playing as much football, so we had to take that into account.

“Really, it’s not ideal to be losing players when we are in the situation we are in but sometimes there are consequences – getting knocked out of the FA Cup was a significant financial blow.”

Asked whether he felt his squad could cope with losing a player like Baggie, Killick replied: “It’s not ideal but we have to live within our means and plough on.

“I am sorry that things haven’t worked out.

“He is a very good player and I am sure he can probably go somewhere else and be quite effective. It didn’t quite happen for him and us, sometimes that is the case.

“He is a really decent lad, a decent person and a very good player as well. I hope he goes on and does good things.”

With no scheduled fixture for Dolphins last week, they return to National South action with a trip to Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday (3pm).

Managed by former Cherries boss Lee Bradbury, the Hawks are ninth in the table following their promotion as champions of the Isthmian League Premier Division last season.

And Killick took the time to praise his managerial counterpart.

He added: “I honestly feel at any level of football now, if you give decent managers a decent amount of time, then they will be successful.

“I think with Lee Bradbury, there was a lot of negativity when they got relegated but I think they made the right call in sticking by him.

“They are getting the benefits of that now with the promotion they had last season and they are doing really well in the league.

“He is a really experienced manager and has a lot of very experienced and top quality players for this level of football. It doesn’t surprise me they are doing well.”

Killick is hopeful midfielder Steve Devlin will recover in time from a hamstring problem for the clash. Jack Dickson is also in contention to be in the squad.

Defender Jake Smeeton is expected to miss out however.

The Poole boss added: “From all of them, Smeets is the most unlikely. The injury he suffered turned out to be a bit more troublesome and worrying than we first anticipated.

“He fell awkwardly in training and it looks like he has torn a muscle in his chest. His arm was in a sling because he couldn’t lift it at all.”

Dolphins: (from) Hutchings, Lindsay, Moore, Spetch, Whisken, Pettefer, Dickson, Neale, Devlin, Bedford, Bentley, Gillespie, Cooper, Harfield, Balmer.