Bob Dorrian has been Lincoln City chairman since June 2010

James Lobley BBC Lincolnshire

No business, it seems, is invulnerable to the current economic climate, and football is certainly feeling the squeeze.

At many clubs, especially in the lower leagues, wages and overheads are increasing at a greater rate than the income through the turnstiles, and the net result is that playing budgets are becoming ever tighter.

And while Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian says the Imps are secure financially, the budget for manager Steve Tilson in the current campaign has been stretched as far as it will go.

Indeed, upon Tilson's appointment, following the resignation of Chris Sutton, Dorrian remarked that Tilson's purse strings would be tied as his predecessor had already spent much of the budget.

But Dorrian insists the club will try their best to give Tilson as much funding as possible for his first full season at Sincil Bank.

"The budget won't necessarily be smaller but we'll have to work hard," he told BBC Lincolnshire.

"We want to give Steve the same budget that Chris Sutton had at the beginning of this season. We can't guarantee that he will get it but we're working on ways to do it."

We want people to have confidence in the club next season and to have confidence that Steve Tilson and Paul Brush are going to do a good job, play attractive football and get into the play-offs Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian

One of a club's main streams of income is season ticket sales, but it is inextricably linked to performances on the pitch and in recent seasons the Imps have been at the wrong end of League Two.

In the worst case this can lead to a vicious cycle of lower budgets, limited squads, poor results and lower attendances bringing in less revenue through the turnstiles.

Lincoln sold 1,630 season tickets for 2010-11 but Dorrian believes that a sizeable increase can be achieved through competitive pricing and innovative marketing, plus the prospect of a better season on the pitch.

"We've got some fairly radical ideas to encourage more people to buy season tickets. We think we have a core support of 4,500 fans and it shouldn't be too difficult to get 2,000 to buy season tickets given the deals we'll be offering," said Dorrian.

"We want people to have confidence in the club next season and to have confidence that Steve Tilson and Paul Brush are going to do a good job, play attractive football and get into the play-offs."

And Dorrian has reiterated his stance that players will have to be more realistic with their wage demands.

"I think we'll see a sea change in the outlook of clubs next season," said the Imps chairman, who will celebrate a year in the post in June.

"Having spoken to many other chairmen I think there is a strong feeling that a lot of players in the lower leagues are criminally overpaid for what they do and what they are as players and in many cases we will see chairmen, especially in League Two, saying that if a player will cost more than a certain amount they will not sign him.

"That in turn will bring about the question of supply and demand. There could be an oversupply of expensive players who, between themselves and their agents, will have to revise their ambitions in terms of what they are paid.

"I think there's a better chance of that happening next season than at any other time previously."

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