ANDY Kilner headed for a party in Bromley Cross on Saturday night hell bent on celebrating ... again!

Bolton born and bred, the Stockport boss, who enjoyed free beer after winning at the Reebok last December, had scored another unlikely victory over his home town club and knew his mates - all Wanderers' fans - wouldn't thank him for costing them three valuable promotion points.

But Kilner couldn't care less after Aaron Wilbraham's late winner earned County their first home win of the season. Had they lost he'd have been drowning his sorrows, possibly looking for another job!

"Maybe the Bolton supporters will forgive me - a Bolton lad - getting another win against them," he said with a satisfied grin, "although probably not!

"But I've got the party to go to and the beer will taste good."

Kilner has had the Indian sign on Wanderers since succeeding Gary Megson as County boss two summers ago. That win at the Reebok last season was followed by a creditable scoreless draw at Edgeley Park, leading him to wonder how strong his position might be if he could count on the same commitment from his teams week in and week out.

But he is under no illusions as he strives to keep his head above the relegation waters.

"Survival in this division is the only success Stockport County should be striving for," he insisted as, even after such a thrilling victory, his position as manager continued to be scrutinised.

"The resources are not there for anything more than that. Survival should be the only parameter that the club sets.

"There's no money. I'm aware of that and I just have to get on with the job and do the best I possibly can with what I've got. Other people have to be aware of that too."

Whether Kilner's chairman, Brendan Elwood, appreciates the situation remains to be seen. Asked if his manager was under pressure, he said: "I'm under pressure, the manager's under pressure, the team's under pressure.

"I have no deadline. It could be the end of the season, it could be tomorrow but the people who matter are the fans and I think, if we hadn't won, they may have been calling for a few heads."

Kilner believes people would not be quite so quick to judge if they faced up to the financial facts of life and measured County's resources against many of the clubs they are competing against in Division One.

"When you come up against sides like Bolton, you can see they have that extra bit more quality throughout their side than we've got," he explains.

"We are paying less in transfer fees than we were three years ago; we're paying less in salaries than we were paying three years ago. It's very difficult for us to play against the likes of Bolton, who have quality running through their side.

"We recently sold our best player - Tony Dinning - for £650,000 and I can't replace him. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what happens when a club sells its best players and doesn't replace them. You have to face the consequences.

"If we sell Ian Moore this week, as we may do, for £1.2 million I'll probably get £100,000 or £150,000 to spend. I might even get nothing.

"I spoke to the manager of a club the other week - a club that these people (supporters) bracket us with - and his wage bill is £2 million more than ours. That's £40,000 a week - 10 players on £4,000 a week or four players on £10,000 a week more than we have. That's what we are competing with.

"People have got to accept the circumstances. I had 21 players injured at the weekend and we've beaten Bolton Wanderers. That's a massive achievement.

"It was a fantastic local derby and it doesn't matter how we did it, the important thing for us is that we got a win. I actually think we deserved it on the strength of what we did in the first half. But, whatever, it's a victory I'm going to savour."