Scantlebury planning on early repayment

Carshalton Athletic's new manager Rob Scantlebury is looking forward to repaying the faith the Ryman South's Robins have shown in by naming him as the permanent successor to former manager Stewart Massey.

Scantlebury, pictured, took the reins at Colston Avenue on a caretaker basis following the departure of Massey in October and has presided over two wins in four games to date.

A member of the Robins playing staff for the last four years, he was managing the reserves at the start of the season and was appointed on Monday with the "unanimous" backing of the Surrey club's officials and chairman Paul Dipre.

The Robins went down 4-2 at Herne Bay on Saturday, leaving them just four points above the drop zone, and Scantlebury will take charge for the first time on Saturday as permanent manager when his new charges host Sittingbourne, ten places above them in the table.

In the club statement announcing his appointment, Scantlebury said: "I’m really proud to be given this opportunity as I hold the club very dear to my heart. I also feel it’s a brave move by the club to promote from within and I want to prove myself by paying back that faith.

"I want this club to succeed and I want us to do it in the right manner on the pitch. Whoever has seen our last four games will know we’ve tried to play football and will have seen some fighting spirit - two attributes we will look to build on."

He added: "It was an easy decision for me to make as the support I’ve enjoyed from my fellow coaches, the players and the match day staff has been magnificent."

Confirming the decision to stick by their caretaker, Dipre said: "Rob really deserves the opportunity after showing what he brings to the role, plus we feel he is liked by the players, club management and fans. We had quite a few applications for the position but we were unanimous in our decision."

Robins midfielder Matt Males said he was "delighted" with the appointment and believes Scantlebury has already breathed new life into the first-team squad.

Males added: "I’m sure the general consensus among the rest of the lads will be the same as mine. He’s given us freedom to express ourselves on the pitch, while his pre-match preparation and training sessions are meticulous. We’ve got a couple of wins recently as a result and confidence within the squad is rising."

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