Crawley boss Steve Evans believes it will be even harder to mount a Conference promotion challenge next season.

Evans admitted last week that he is likely to be operating once again with a small squad of around 18 full-time pros but working within a reduced budget.

Added to that, Luton Town’s massive resources and big fan base means they will have a huge advantage in the race for the Football League.

The Hatters lost their Football League status on Monday after failing to overcome the 30 point deduction they were handed at the start of the season.

But their average crowd is still more than 6,000 – higher than any club has managed in the Conference this season – and they took more than 40,000 fans to Wembley earlier this month to see them lift the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

He said: “If you consider the likes of Luton as well as a host of other big clubs it is not going to be easy.

“Luton will have a massive budget for this league and then there are the likes of Mansfield and Wrexham, who came down from the Football League last season.

“And whatever happens in the play-offs a club with big resources such as Kidderminster, Stevenage or Oxford are going to miss out.

“But if we can retain our best players and add a few new ones in important areas I feel we can definitely challenge.”

Evans wants to add goalkeeping cover for Simon Rayner, a right-back, midfielder and striker to his squad while talks with the club’s out-of-contract players will take place next week.

Only a handful – including striker Jamie Cook, Rayner, Mikey Malcolm and Chris Giles – have deals which extend into next season.

Both Evans and his assistant Paul Raynor are already scouting potential targets.

Raynor said: “We have already started looking at the two or three individuals which we feel will improve the squad.

“We want to push on next year. We are on course for the highest position and most points in Crawley Town’s history this season which is a magnificent achievement in itself. But when we came here in 2007 we said it was a three-year plan to get this club into the Football League and we’re now getting ready for the third season.

“We have got better and better and I think the fans here appreciate how much we have moved the club forward in the last two seasons on and off the field.

“But hopefully we can bring in those players that will make us even stronger.”

Reds have three games left and are on course to finish the season in eighth place.

Evans is determined not to let the season peter out and all of their remaining games have significance for the opposition.

Tomorrow’s opponents Barrow still need four points to ensure survival and on Tuesday Reds go to Grays, who are just three points clear of the relegation zone.

The season ends against Histon, who dropped out of the play-off race over Easter but have games in hand on all of the top five.

Evans added: “It would be disrespectful to the other clubs who are involved in the play-offs and relegation not to give everything in these last three games.

“We said after the Stevenage game on Monday, when we weren't at our best, that we didn’t want to just abandon the season and I think our performance at Kettering on Wednesday proved that.”

Cook, Glenn Wilson, Jake Wright and Danny Forrest all rested niggling injuries in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Kettering but should be in contention for the trip to the north-west but Simon Weatherstone (hamstring) and Thomas Pinault (ankle) are unlikely to play again this season.

Reds have opted against making the 600-mile trip to Barrow overnight and will set off early tomorrow to save costs.

Evans said: “If we’d still been in play-off contention we would definitely have stayed in a hotel but the club can’t really afford to spend £1,500 when it’s not really necessary.”

Barrow (from): Deasy, Spender, Jelleyman, Jones, McNulty, McGill, Bond, Walker, McEvilly, Logan, Hunt, Rogan, Brown, Kerr, Martin.

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