LEE Hughes has vowed to give it everything in his efforts to help Halesowen Town avoid relegation as the experienced striker attempts to save their season.

The former West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City striker was handed control of the team last Wednesday following the sudden departure of previous management duo Rob Smith and Larry Chambers.

Hughes said: “Nobody had any inkling at Tuesday night training. Then I got a phone call on Wednesday from joint owner Keith McKenna who broke the news and asked me to take charge until the end of the season.

“I’ve since spoken to Rob and Larry. They understand. It’s a results driven business and just two wins in 18 games wasn’t good."

Hughes has since brought back fans favourite Asa Charlton as his assistant player-manager while former Lye and Chasetown boss Craig ‘Chopper’ Harris has arrived to share the coaching duties with Lee Brown.

Hughes commenced his reign with a goalless draw against in-form Hitchin Town last Saturday.

The Yeltz boss and his assistant both chose to watch from the bench rather than play and Hughes explained: “I’ll play if I have to, but I thought it best if we watched from the sidelines against Hitchin to analyse what needed to be done.

“As a result, I’m actively looking for a couple of wide players. Although we kept a clean sheet, we lacked creativity.

“It’s no use sitting back at this point – we’ve got to go and gets wins."

Life doesn’t get any easier as Halesowen make the short trip to local rivals Rushall Olympic on Saturday before embarking on a long distance trip to fellow strugglers Lowestoft Town next Tuesday night.

Hughes is under no illusions, he said: “I do not want to get relegated and I believe in this group of lads. If we could just get a win under our belts, it would lift them massively.

“The crowd were magnificent against Hitchin. They could see the effort the players were putting in and clapped them off the pitch at the end.

"It’s the crowd that can play a big part in our battle for survival."