STEVE Shaughnessy immediately ruled himself out of the race to become Winsford United manager after turning down the chance to take over the team for the remainder of the season.

The Blues striker was assistant to Dalton Steele before the manager resigned last week, but didn't feel ready to step up into the hot seat.

He agreed to take charge for the 2-0 defeat by Whitby Town at the weekend, but indicated that he didn't want to continue until the end of the season

Shaugnnessy said: "I knew it was only going to be for the one game because I told the directors I wasn't interested in the job.

"It's too time-orientated and for me, it's just come up at the wrong time.

"My intention was that next season was going to be my last for playing and then concentrate on whatever comes along."

After the sudden departure of Steele last week, the board gave Shaughnessy, 31, the chance to replace him.

But his decision not to take the manager's role is also tied to financial reasons, which may result in him, and a number of other players, following Steele out of Barton Stadium.

And the striker feels off the pitch problems made it almost impossible for him to motivate his players for the match with Whitby.

He added: "Football was the last thing on everyone's mind on Saturday because of the situation. It's a good job we've got ourselves in a safe and secure position where we're not going to get relegated.

"To be honest, I don't think the game should have been played anyway because the pitch was terrible.

"Our home form has suffered this season because of the state of the pitch but the biggest let down is people not coming to watch.

"I could understand it if we were getting hammered every week, but that's not been the case."

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