WIMBORNE player-manager Christer Warren believes they are capable of "doing a Winchester City" if they gain Southern League status at the end of this season.

The Wessex League have confirmed Magpies have officially applied for promotion alongside AFC Totton, Poole Town and VT FC.

And Warren feels if the Cuthbury outfit do go up, they could immediately hold their own at the higher level like the cathedral city side.

Winchester, who don't have the big money they had in 2004 when they won the FA Vase, are currently mid-table in Southern League Division One South and West.

Warren believes Wimborne's finances would be similar to Winchester's and that it showed what platform Magpies could lay in the higher division before building from there.

The former Saints and Cherries player said: "The board have had a look at our finances, and they are not going to go crazy and get the club in trouble.

"We are very well run behind the scenes and I'm very confident in the way the club is run that we can survive in the Southern.

"You only have to look at what Andy Leader has done at Winchester. He has done amazing things on a tight budget, so you can do it if you put your mind to it."

Warren, whose club are currently third, added: "Getting promotion was one of the main reasons why I wanted to take the job.

"When I sat down and had a chat with the club, they said getting out of the Wessex into the Southern was one of their ambitions, and that's what I wanted to do.

"If you can get to that level, you can attract better players to the club.

"Everything at Wimborne is geared up to the next level and we get good support from the fans.

"Without putting pressure on myself and the rest of the management team, promotion is something the club want to achieve.

"I want to take the club forward to the next level."

Warren felt Magpies needed only to carry out a "few little jobs" to comply with the ground facilities criteria for promotion.

He added: "Wimborne have been in the Wessex a long time, they have had good and bad seasons, but I think everyone is giving it a really good push this term.

"There are five or six teams capable of winning the league and I think we have to win it to guarantee going up, although we may be able to come runners-up and still gain promotion.

"The hardest thing will be trying to finish in the top two. There are a lot of good teams and they are trying to do the same thing as us, get out of the league."