LOSING 5-0 at Aldershot is not the usual method for getting noticed – not in a good way, at least.

But that was the first step of a remarkable route that has thrust Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars to the forefront of City’s League Two revival.

The pair were rightly elevated to a permanent hot-seat role this week before carrying on the staggering work of their interim phase by making it eight wins from 12 in charge with another three points against Leyton Orient.

From possible relegation fodder to potential promotion contenders; the transformation under the duo has been almost unthinkable.

It’s the attention to detail and depth of preparation that has most impressed – something that Ryan Sparks first picked up on during a wintry night in north Hampshire 13 months ago.

City’s under-18s were well beaten by hosts Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup, hardly a surprise given the financial gulf between the two academies. But something stuck with Sparks.

“I arrived a couple of hours before kick-off and wandered into the dressing room to say hello,” he recalled. “The two of them were laying out the kit and filling the water bottles.

“I felt bad because maybe we should have had someone there to do that but they weren’t bothered.

“They said they’d been doing it for years and just wanted the players to feel they were being looked after. That never left me.

“They didn’t want the frills and have been exactly the same since they took the job.

“What I love about them is the grit and work ethic. Nothing fazes them.

“They realise that the training pitches need some work and we’re going to do it next summer. We couldn’t afford it this year.

“But they just get on with it.

“It’s those key moments that leave a mark for me. That Chelsea game was one of a number of, ‘we’re not bothered, we’re just going to have a go at it’ kind of approaches.

“That’s what this club is. Get the right people in the right jobs and your organisation will naturally develop - it’s not as difficult as it sounds.”

Sparks had not even checked with academy head Neil Matthews when he first called Trueman about stepping into the breach having severed the club’s ties with Stuart McCall.

The chief executive, just 19 days into the job at the time, admitted: “It was a very long and difficult Sunday.

“When you’re having to say that’s the end of the road to somebody like Stuart McCall, that’s not an easy thing to do. It was horrendous.

“I cleared my head Sunday afternoon and rang Mark an hour later.

“I very much felt it was the right thing to do and badly wanted to give him an opportunity.

“He wanted to bring Conor along for the journey and they’ve gone hand in hand.”

The atmosphere at the training ground, when Sparks met the players the next morning, was understandably difficult.

“Some people felt regret, some were probably glad as they always are in dressing rooms when a manager leaves, and others were somewhere in the middle.

“Some were very hurt and shocked. There was an air of realisation.

“I asked the players one question, ‘can you please give these gentlemen everything you’ve got?’ If there was anything left in the locker so far this season now was the time to drop it on the pitch.

“We were at the wrong end of the table and everyone was facing dire consequences.”

The reaction speaks for itself. The gamble of fast-tracking the two coaches has so far yielded a return beyond every expectation.

But Sparks sensed it would be right from their dug-out debut at Crawley – one of the few games this season played in front of fans.

“Our backs couldn’t have been any further against the wall. We might as well have been in the concrete.

“But something happened that night. The switch flicked and the players responded and found something inside themselves.

“The way we played was round pegs in round holes, the formation was different, the players understood what they were being asked to do and made life very difficult for Crawley .

“They almost thrived in the atmosphere and they’ve carried that forward.

“We’re a team now that frustrates opposition and appears to make life difficult.

“That’s what this club should be. You shouldn’t want to come to Valley Parade – this is not a place for an opponent.

“We’ve rolled out the red carpet far too many times in my time here.”