Margate manager Nikki Bull says it has been heartbreaking and demoralising having to tell players that the club can no longer afford to keep them.

Striker Michael Thalassitis was the first victim of the Gate’s cost-cutting drive when he left to join Hemel Hempstead last week and Bull admits it is now inevitable others will follow.

Top scorer Elliott Buchanan is believed to be in talks with as many as four clubs who want his services, while defender Yado Mambo is also poised to leave, with Bishop’s Stortford his most likely destination.

Bull said neither man wants to go, but the club’s parlous financial situation means he has no option but to reduce his budget by offloading players.

Bull, who met with club officials on Monday, explained: “The squad’s going to be broken up, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

“It’s demoralising and heartbreaking to be making these calls. When I put this squad together in the summer I didn’t think I’d be making calls like this in October.

“I was led to believe this club was stable moving forward and that we were building something. I spoke to Elliott on Sunday and he said ‘Is there any way I can stay? And I had to say ‘It’s out of my hands’.

“I’m devastated because I worked so hard in the summer to get these players in and build a young squad which I thought would only get better.”

Bull says he hopes to persuade Reading to continue keeper Lewis Ward’s loan deal and he has not ruled out keeping several others, albeit while conceding that every player is effectively available for transfer.

The Gate boss has already been in touch with a host of league clubs asking about potential loan deals, and admits he faces a ‘juggling act’ in the weeks ahead as the full extent of his re-building programme becomes known.