Warrington Rylands appoint new manager

The former Atherton Collieries and Ashton United boss will be assisted by Nicky Hunt, who amassed more than 100 Premier League appearances for Bolton Wanderers during his playing days.

Clegg left his position at the Robins at the beginning of the year following a difficult festive period which included 4-0 and 6-0 defeats to local rivals FC United of Manchester and Hyde United.

He had been in charge of the club since November 2019.

Previously, Clegg helped Colls secure three promotions during his five years in charge.

Rylands have been without a manager since the departure of Jody Banim at the end of January.

On his appointment as Rylands' manager, Clegg said: "I'm really excited. Once I heard the plans and I've seen the squad on paper that we've got, I thought we could end the season really strong and it was too good of an opportunity to turn down.

"When you speak to the board and the committee there's a clear vision of where they want to go on what they want to do," he added.

"I think this year has been tough. It's always tough coming into a new league. There are some massive clubs at this level and I think sometimes you can get a bit carried away.

"I think it's time now is probably study the ship and kind of regain our identity and move forward that way."

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Clegg wants to get his squad back playing in a positive mindset, alongside picking up wins in important games.

"Our job is to get everybody to enjoy being here," he said. "We want them to enjoy their football, enjoy working hard and to also go and get some wins on the board.

"It's very hard to pick up back-to-back wins alone at this level, but we've got some really good fixtures against teams who are up near the play-off positions, and also teams who are in and around us.

"We want to go and upset those teams whenever we can, starting on Saturday."

Clegg’s first game in charge of the Blues will be away at Whitby Town on Saturday afternoon.

Photo credit: Warrington Rylands