Yates excited by new role

Adam Yates says he's excited by the challenge of being appointed joint-boss of Matlock Town along with former Premiership title winner and Matlock manager Mark Atkins.

The appointments were made on Monday night following the resignation of Martin Carruthers earlier in the day.

Yates says the news came out of the blue but he is delighted to step into the managerial breach at the Proctor Cars Stadium.

“Firstly I didn’t expect Martin to leave, it was a shock and I thought he’d be here for the rest of the season and assess the situation then,” said Yates.

“But the club needs someone to step up and Mark Atkins and myself have come in until the end of the season.

"I’m excited because I’d been thinking about what happens after football, now rightly or wrongly I’ve got that opportunity and after speaking with both Jason the chairman and Atko I’m delighted to be given the chance to see what I can do.

"I wouldn’t have wanted to start out doing this with anyone else than Atko. He gave me my chance at Northern Premier level and with him being there it was an easy decision, I’ve got the backing of everyone at the club which is nice and we now need to be as successful as we can in these last eight games.”

Yates knows he faces a tough baptism with a home game against play-off contenders Marine on Saturday followed by a home derby with Ilkeston Town on Easter Monday, but he is not fazed by the opposition to begin his managerial career.

“Marine and Ilkeston are both winnable games, we know anyone can beat anyone in this league. We’re going to get together on Tuesday for a team bonding session and then train on Thursday.

"Our message will be to keep things simple. Perhaps things got a bit too complicated towards the end of Martin’s reign, he was struggling with certain aspects but I don’t have a bad word to say about Martin who did really well for the club getting us to the play-offs.”