Farnborough's Steve King to show old club Lewes no pity

King enjoyed three promotions in five years at Lewes

Farnborough manager Steve King says he will not let sentiment get in the way as his old club Lewes visit the Rushmoor Stadium on Saturday.

King led Lewes into the top flight of non-league football for the first time in their history before leaving when his contract was not renewed.

He told BBC Sussex: "No disrespect to Lewes, but they've played nine and lost seven of those.

"We've got to be looking to get three points here."

King, who won Lewes three promotions in five years, admitted he had mixed memories of his time at the Dripping Pan because of the way he lost his job after leading the club to the Blue Square South title, being replaced by former Brighton commercial manager Kevin Keehan.

"It went from being one of the best times in football to the worst times," said King. "A certain individual (Keehan) had no management experience ever.

"The chairman had to make a massive decision, and it was probably the worst mistake to be made in the history of Lewes Football Club. If it wasn't for Steve Ibbotson (current Lewes boss) there would have been back-to-back relegations which is not what the people of Lewes deserved."

Since King's departure, the club have struggled on the pitch and fought a series of High Court battles against creditors before fans took control this summer.

"It wasn't a case of the club overachieving because they could have sustained that (Blue Square Premier football)," added King. "They were getting crowds of over 1,000 - when I went there they were only getting 250. It turned into a football town. It was a rugby town when I went there."

King joined Farnborough in May 2009 and has already steered them into Blue Square Bet South.

"We're part one through the job in the first season," he said. "We'd like to get to the Conference National. We'll do our damndest to do it this season, but it's going to be difficult. But everybody's aim has got to be the play-offs."

King is very proud of the fans' consortium Rooks125 that have taken over at Lewes.

"The most important thing about running a football club is to have the right people in charge of it," he added.

"They've got the best interests at heart because they're fans. It's the same here - Simon [Hollis, chairman] wants what's best for the football club."