We had to act now, says chairman

After the departure of Ronnie Moore last month, Stewart had said that the temporary management team headed up by Andy Liddell would be see the campaign out, giving them a fantastic opportunity to try and take the team to promotion.

But over the last few weeks the number of applicants built up and the club decided to move now to give the new manager the best chance to weigh up the squad.

Stewart told the Advertiser: "We had 30 managers who put their card in the hat and we wanted to have a look at the options.

"We had to consider that if a new manager were to come in at the end of the season, what opportunity would he get to look at the existing players given the fact we've got ten out of contract this summer?

"We decided that, having interviewed the right man in Andy Scott, the timing was right (to appoint now).

"He's got five games to assess the players and have a view as to what we needs to do, not just for this season, but to begin a new season.

"We felt we owed it to the new manager to give him that time."