Sacked Faversham manager Simon Austin says the Lilywhites should easily get themselves out of trouble with the squad he put together.

Austin was dismissed on Sunday night after only 40 days in charge following a 3-1 defeat at Three Bridges.

His replacement is Sammy Moore, who has left Isthmian Premier leaders Potters Bar to take charge at Salters Lane.

Austin won only one of his eight league games, losing the other seven, and departs with Town bottom of Isthmian South East.

But he expected more time after inheriting a difficult situation from former joint-bosses John Embery and Jermaine Darlington.

He made big changes to the squad, signing the likes of Zak Ansah and Kieron Campbell - only to be axed before his new-look team could settle down.

Having done the groundwork, he believes Moore will reap the benefits.

The new man starts his reign at home to second-bottom Corinthian this Saturday (3pm), with Faversham nine points adrift of the two relegation play-off spots.

Ex-boss Austin said: “I’m sure with this group of players and with an experienced manager coming in they will comfortably beat Corinthian and win their next two or three games and go on that little run that the players we brought in are capable of.

“I know they are, which is why I signed them. They should easily now move away from the relegation places.”

Austin walks away with his head held high after taking on a big challenge.

Five weeks was never going to be enough given the size of the task but he feels he’s laid the foundations for better times.

“The next manager walking in is going to be a lot happier than I was when I walked into the role five weeks ago,” said Austin.

“Everyone knew and could see the scale of the challenge on and off the pitch, there was a huge amount of change needed.

“Some of it was unexpected but I think we had dealt with all of these issues and I was just getting to the stage of being able to concentrate solely on winning football matches.

“Building a team doesn’t happen in five weeks, definitely not from where we started and what we started with.

“We had to go right back to basics which I hadn’t expected to do and you have to follow a process - it was broken and there isn’t a quick fix, unfortunately.

“High expectations are a good thing but they need to be balanced.

“You can now see the calibre of squad we managed to put together, during the season, during a relegation fight and over a five-week period.

“All this group needed was a few weeks to settle, gel, work on how we want to play and understand our expectations.

“My remit from the club was up until Christmas transition the squad. I know there’s a few decorations starting to go up but it’s not Christmas yet.

“Up until Sunday the remit hadn’t changed, the club were supportive of my plans, approach and playing squad but obviously expectations can change very quickly in football.

“I stand by the decisions I made and I don’t regret my approach.

“I took people on their word and maybe I’ll look back and learn from that.

“I’d have liked a little more time to actually work with the group we have worked very hard to assemble in a short space of time.

“I was approached twice by the club in the past four to five months to take on the role so having agreed to take the job, I expected more time.

“The club wanted foundations laid that would help to meet its ambitious and exciting plans it has in relation to growing its fan base, opening its academy and looking to move up the non-league pyramid - none of this was going to happen in 40 days.”