MARK Collier saluted Chippenham Town's players, officials and supporters after kicking off his Hardenhuish Park tenure with a victory on Saturday.

Collier watched his new charges end a run of five straight defeats with a hugely-encouraging 1-0 success over third-placed side Cambridge City, Lee Phillips netting the only goal of the game.

The new manager, who has former Swindon Town winger Tom Jones as his assistant, said: “I've had a fantastic welcome from the directors and the supporters were first-class (on Saturday).

“I'm happy to be here and hopefully we can bring success. They've been getting 300 people in regularly without winning matches so hopefully we can add a bit more and keep building it up.

“When a new manager comes in, people think 'is he going to make any difference?'. But it's a credit to the players because they've done all of the hard work.

“I said to them, 'you're in charge if your shirt at this moment in time and if you want to keep it, you've got to perform to a level that we expect'.”

Collier's second match in charge arrives quickly, with a trip to Merthyr Town in the Red Insure Cup second round tomorrow night (7.45pm).

The new Bluebirds chief handed a debut to Matt Bulman, who signed on loan for a month from Forest Green Rovers on Friday, in Saturday's victory.

He is also on the hunt for further new faces, with an approach already made for Swindon Supermarine midfielder Rob Dean.

NEWS FROM TOMORROW NIGHT'S RED INSURE CUP TIE AT MERTHYR AT GAZETTEANDHERALD.CO.UK/SPORT AND WILTSHIRETIMES.CO.UK/SPORT TOMORROW NIGHT AND MORE REACTION FROM COLLIER, JAMES GUTHRIE AND THE REST OF THE NEWS FROM HARDENHUISH PARK IN THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD