Bashley'S director of football, Derek Binns, says the New Forest club did all they could to hang on to skipper Craig Davis.

The 22-year-old's £15,000 move to Dr Martens Eastern Division rivals Salisbury City was greeted with stunned disbelief from many Bash fans, who are concerned that it signals a lack of ambition from the club.

That theory was compounded by Davis himself, who said in his farewell message on the club website: "I simply feel Salisbury are a more ambitious club and when I realised that players were for sale at Bashley this unsettled me and made me feel it was time to move on."

Binns, however, gave another side to the story, saying: "At the end of the day Craig told us he wanted to go. We tried to talk him out of it, but he was adamant that he wanted to join a club with better facilities and a better crowd.

"What he says on the website about players being up for sale is not true, but if a player decides that he doesn't want to play for the club then there's nothing you can do."

Davis, who was in his fourth season with Bashley since returning from Cardiff City, scored 55 goals in 176 appearances from midfield and was employed full-time as youth development officer.

Binns admits he is mystified by the West End lad's decision to make a sideways step to another Eastern Division club.

He said: "He was very, very well looked after here and I doubt if Salisbury will get anywhere near to what we were paying him for what he does on the pitch, let alone his work running our soccer academy.

"Craig's been a great servant to Bashley and I'd like to have seen him progress higher with a Premier Division or Conference club.

"Salisbury obviously got to him and I'm disappointed about that. Their move for Craig came out of the blue for us, but whether it came out of the blue for them, I don't know.

"But if this gives Craig a chance to better himself and us a chance to bring someone in who wants to play for the club, then it's got to be better all round for everyone."

Salisbury also enquired after Bashley's commanding former Portsmouth and Havant & Waterlooville defender Aaron Cook, but Binns confirmed: "Aaron wasn't interested in going."

Bashley boss John Robson hopes to run the rule over three prospective new signings in a home friendly against Lymington & New Milton tonight (7.45) - left-sided midfielder Matt Graves from Wealdstone, former Salisbury frontman Reza Sotoudeh from Devizes and 17-year-old full-back John Dixon, who hails from the Newbury area. His other target, 19-year-old central defender James Wilson, is being talked into staying with Cambridge City.