Cray Wanderers have announced the surprise departure of player-manager Danny Kedwell.

The well-travelled former Gillingham and Ebbsfleet frontman leaves after their 3-2 home loss to Margate on Monday, with Kedwell having first taken over the Isthmian Premier side in April.

A short statement from the club read: “Cray Wanderers FC have parted company with Danny Kedwell by mutual consent.

“We thank Danny for his hard work and commitment in his time with the club, and wish him all the best for the future.

“Applications for the first-team manager position can be sent to craywanderersfc@gmail.com.”

On Twitter, he wrote: "My time at @OfficialWands has come to the end - gutted it's come (to) this (so) soon.

"(I) had to build a whole squad from scratch and I'm proud of that. (I would) like to thank all my staff from the beginning to the end.

"I've learned a lot in a very difficult start to managing and thank Cray for the opportunity and, (to) all my players, (I would) like to wish them all the best.

"(It's) been a pleasure (the) boots coming back out."

He leaves with Cray second-bottom in the table, although they have games in hand on all the sides immediately above them.

Kedwell did enjoy some FA Trophy success, though, as he helped Cray reach the third round of the competition for the first time in their history with a penalty shoot-out success over Ebbsfleet.

It was an awkward afternoon for Kedwell, who manages the Fleet academy.

The Wands then lost 3-1 to Dartford in round three this month.

After that defeat, the 38-year-old said he is being urged to carry on playing - by his own players.

The Gillingham-born said: “It’s frustrating because my mind is there but my legs aren’t.

“It’s mad when you’ve got players telling you that you’ve got to get fit.

"My own players want me playing and my coaching staff want me to get fit. We’ll see what happens because I love playing.”

Cray’s next match is at East Thurrock on New Year’s Day, although it's unclear who will be in the dug-out by then at this stage with no interim management team announced.