Ed Warner, the new chair of UK Athletics, has said that the aspirational target of coming fourth in the track and field medal roster at the 2012 Olympics may be unrealistic.

The target, which was set by the British Olympic Association (BOA) in tandem with UK Sport, is for Britain to come fourth in the medal table in London, but Warner has acted quickly to stamp out overly ambitious expectations.

He said: "This aspiration is very dangerous if it becomes a central target. I'd love it to happen but it is an awful long way from where we are now."

Warner said the process of delivering medals was not a straight forward one, adding: "Government has put a lot of funding into all Olympic sport, for which we are very grateful, but this is not a factory.

"You can't say, 'we have stuck in 'x' millions of pounds, so we will get so many packets of biscuits off the production line'".

Warner's views are seemingly in opposition to those of senior officials at UK Sport and the BOA, who have argued that greater investment in elite sport will have a proportionately positive impact on the number of British athletes reaching the podium.

Others will suggest that this is an objective and realistic outlook, and the reason why Warner – an experienced and successful businessman – was brought on board.

Warner has also addressed concerns over the underperformance of British athletes, saying: "We have been accused, I think quite rightly, of taking bloated teams to major championships. I think we have to look very carefully at our selection policy.

"We've got to take athletes who have either stood on the podium before or got close. We shouldn't then pack the squad with guaranteed also-rans that make us feel as though we're taking a big team."