Steve Evans is expecting to operate with a smaller playing budget next season.

However the Crawley boss insists that the club will remain full-time.

Reds’ directors are doing their sums at the moment and Evans should know his budget before the campaign ends on April 26.

But whatever happens, it looks almost certain that they will again operate with one of the smallest squads in the Conference next season.

Evans said: “The board are doing the number crunching at the moment but I would expect to have a smaller budget next season.

“I’m hoping that we will still be full-time and I’ve had no indication that it will be anything different but all clubs at all levels are feeling the effects of the recession and we are no different.”

Evans and assistant boss Paul Raynor have already begun weighing up which players they want to keep and who will be shown the door.

Jamie Cook, Chris Giles, Simon Rayner and Mikey Malcolm are contracted until the end of the 2009-10 season while the club have until April 26 to offer the same or improved terms to their players aged under 24, who include highly-rated defender Jake Wright and former Albion fullback Sam Rents.

Under-24 players could still leave the club but Crawley would be entitled to a transfer fee decided by an FA tribunal.

Evans believes the transfer market will be depressed this summer as clubs in the Football League and non-league cut their cloths and he expects players to be realistic when it comes to deciding their own futures.

He added: “Players usually expect a pay increase with a new contract but football is not immune from the credit crunch and I think they understand that.

“But any decisions we make will be purely on football terms. We will lose some players but we would like to keep the bulk of what we’ve got and perhaps add to it.”

Reds go into a gruelling Easter programme which will see them play three games in five days still harbouring outside play-off hopes.

But with his side nine points off fifth place, Evans accepts that they will probably need to win all six of their remaining games to sneak into the play-offs.

Reds will be looking to complete the double over second-placed Torquay at Plainmoor tomorrow before entertaining sixth-placed Stevenage on Monday.

But they head into the holiday programme in good spirits after dismantling leaders Burton Albion 4-0 last Saturday.

Evans said: “The play-offs are probably a long shot for us now but we are still going to give it a go until it’s mathematically impossible.

“All the pressure is going to be on Torquay and Stevenage this weekend. We’re probably the last side Torquay want to play at the moment but I can tell you that if it’s 1-1 in the 90th minute and we get a corner I will be sending our goalkeeper up, we have nothing to lose.”

Evans says tomorrow’s opponents provide a graphic illustration of the haves and have nots in the Conference, a gap which could get greater in the future if clubs such as Crawley struggle to make ends meet on modest crowds and lower sponsorship revenue.

“We don’t fear Torquay but we respect the size of the squad and the fact that they can afford to leave players earning £60,000 out of their squad,” added Evans.

“They have a good, passionate crowd down there but with that comes expectation. If they don’t go up (manager) Paul Buckle will probably go. No one likes to see that happen to a fellow manager but it comes with the territory at a club like Torquay.”

Evans may rotate his squad during the hectic Easter schedule but midfielder Thomas Pinault (ankle) remains sidelined.

Crawley (from): Rayner, Giles, Quinn, Wright, Rents, Bulman, Wilson, Forrest, Malcolm, Matthews, Cook, Gaia, Hurren, Killeen, Rankin, Shaw.

Torquay: Bevan, Mansell, Todd, Robertson, Nicholson, Stevens, Hargreaves, Wroe, Carlisle, Sills, Sturrock, Benyon, Hodges, Green, Carayol, Adams.

Follow Reds LIVE at Torquay tomorrow at theargus.co.uk/live reports