Eagles' temporary manager Chris Bates is happy to extend his stay in the hot-seat until the end of the year.

Bates was placed in caretaker charge when Steve Watson walked away and filled in until Danny Bolton was appointed as his successor – only for Bolton to pull out at the last minute due to personal circumstances.

“I’m spending longer than I imagined as manager but so be it,” said Bates, who will be assisted by Mark Senior as coach.

“It’s not ideal being a player-manager so I have not put myself in the starting line-up yet in any of the games.

“I have been on the bench because I have to be. We have few enough players at the club at the moment.

“The thing is that our financial situation is not good. We are all trying to pull together and do our best.”

Bates was the senior player under Watson but, at 27, is still only young. He admits he will make mistakes but will also learn a lot.

He said: “I have been told by the committee that they will review the situation after Christmas but I’m happy to step in. I have been in and around the club for 15 to 20 years all in all.

“I started out playing here as a junior and came through the age sections right up to the under-19s. I went away to uni but came straight back to Eccleshill when I returned to the area.

“The results are not as we would like but there have been a few good ones recently so the green shoots of recovery are already there.

“All I’m asking at the moment is for one hundred per cent commitment.

“Mark Senior is another who spent many years here as a player in the juniors and the first team.

“Mark is a very busy man because he runs his Pro Skills soccer schools so I won’t get a lot of time out of him but he will still be very valuable to the club.”