Rugby Town’s new permanent manager Gary Moran is looking forward to getting into his role, despite the challenging task facing him.

Moran has replaced the outgoing James Jepson, who quit after just four months in charge at Butlin Road and steps up to the hot-seat after two games as caretaker boss.

However his first game in full charge at the weekend against Northwich Victoria ended in another defeat for Valley, leaving them at the very foot of the Evostik NPL South Division table – facing another mid-season battle to maintain their non-league level four status.

Moran said: “I’m a Rugby-lad and it feels like I’m coming back home.

"I’ve got a long association with the club and a real affinity towards them, and I will be trying my hardest to do well for my home town.

“Of course things aren't going that well at the moment, but I want to put that right.

“With the experience and contacts that myself, Martin (Sockett) and Scott (Hadland) have got within the local non-league football scene, I’m sure that we can stabilise things in the short term and then ultimately look to get the club back up a level in the pyramid again.”

Saturday’s 0-2 home defeat to Northwich meant it was now five straight league defeats for Town, and they sit three points adrift at the bottom of the table.

Moran continued: “We know we have to change the make-up of the side over the coming weeks, but I’m happy to work with what we have here for now, whilst we identify the new faces that we think we need and work hard to bring them to the club.

“In the three games that I have been in charge, I feel that we have been competitive and only lost by the odd goal or two, but we are just lacking that extra bit of quality – that final pass or finish that we need to start moving up the division again.”

Three new signings – Simon Fitter, Sean Brain and Aaron Moses-Garvey - made starts against Northwich, with another Adrian Boitos featuring from the bench, and Moran was hoping to tie-up deals for further arrivals soon.

He said: “Whilst it’s always going to be difficult to build a squad once a season is underway, on the plus side you often find that ten games or so into a new campaign players are starting to realise where they are at clubs and whether they will be getting a regular game or not, so there are often plenty of unsettled players looking for a move.”

Fitter and Brain both played for Moran’s newly appointed right-hand man Martin Sockett at Bromsgrove Sporting last season, where the experienced non-league campaigner was assistant-manager.

Reflecting on the appointment of Head Coach Sockett – who returns for a fourth spell at Butlin Road, Moran continued: “I have played for Martin a number of times in my career now, and as well as being someone with excellent knowledge and connections at this level, he is also a man I really trust – and that is something that is very important within football.”

Sockett is joined in the backroom team by Coach Scott Hadland, who played alongside Moran at Stratford Town, where they enjoyed a promotion season into the Southern League Premier Division in 2014/15 followed by a 19th placed finish there the year after – with Moran also holding the role of assistant-manager to Carl Adams in this time period.

Moran concluded: “I feel I have had a good grounding at Stratford and learnt a great deal about what is involved from the management perspective.

“We were a club punching above our weight in certain ways, but we achieved success by installing an excellent squad mentality and that is something we will be looking for here at Butlin Road.

“I guess this opportunity has come quicker than I expected, but I would not have put myself forward for it if I hadn’t felt I was up to the challenge.”

Town Director Neil Melvin welcomed the new appointments: “The timing of James’s resignation has left us in a difficult position, but we feel this time with Gary and Martin we have taken on people whose character we know well and have confidence in their ability and contacts to carry out what will be a testing job."