WAYNE Harrison has been appointed the new manager of Accrington Stanley.

The 41-year-old ex-Bamber Bridge boss accepted an offer to take over last night and will take charge for the first time against Skelmersdale United in the Lancashire ATS Trophy on Tuesday night.

The club's board of directors acted swiftly to replace Billy Rodaway, who was axed after the 5-0 home defeat against Bamber Bridge on Monday, identifying Harrison as their number one target.

Stanley spokesman John De Maine said: "We did not have any pre-conceived ideas about anyone. We sat down after we parted company with Billy and talked about a possible successor and Wayne Harrison's name cropped up.

"A meeting was arranged with him yesterday, he came across as a sensible individual and he is confident he can do a good job for Accrington Stanley.

"He did well to keep Bamber Bridge up when he was there and we hope he can do the same for us."

Rodaway paid the price for an alarming slump which saw Stanley take just four points from their last 13 matches.

The board reluctantly took action after Monday's crushing defeat, which left the Reds five points adrift at the foot of the table. "Billy was a great guy and we all really wanted him to succeed," said De Maine.

"But over the course of the last couple of games we felt he wasn't going to do it for some reason.

"We are not the type to panic but we needed to do something quickly.

"Wayne was available and he is a very experienced coach.

"He is a man with a lot of ambition but obviously his immediate thoughts are to keep us in the UniBond Premier Division.

"He will be given the same backing that Billy has had and he has been told to go out and get whoever he wants."

Harrison comes with a good pedigree after starting off in the game as a player at Blackpool in the early 80s.

From there, he had a spell in the Indoor League in America before returning to England as player/coach at Workington Town.

He has also been youth team coach at Carlisle United and gained UniBond League experience as assistant manager at Lancaster in 1997 and then as manager at Bamber Bridge last season.

Chairman Eric Whalley will take charge for Saturday's match against Winsford United after which Harrison will be formally introduced to the players.

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