Ross Standen cannot wait to get started with Whitehawk after he announced as first-team manager on Sunday night.

He comes in to replace Jude Macdonald who was relieved of his managerial duties on Sunday after seven-and-a-half years at the club as a youth and then first-team manager.

Standen is someone that knows the club well having played over 400 times for the Hawks as a goalkeeper during his playing career, before becoming assistant manager to Darren Freeman as they rose from the county leagues to the National League South.

Since leaving the Hawks has worked as an assistant at Peacehaven, Lewes and most recently Horsham.

He was also in caretaker charge of the Rooks with Tony Coade from October 2019 to March.

His new management team will be made up of former Hawks players Stuart Tuck and Tony Coade.

And Standen is glad to be given another chance to come back to the club.

He said: “I am very excited to get going.

“It is a club that I have had an affiliation with for over 20 years since growing up as a young lad.

“For me, it is also great to have two people I love working alongside in Tony (Coade) and Tucky (Stuart Tuck).

“I did not expect to get another manager's job so it was just too good an opportunity to turn down.”

Standen will not have to wait long for his first game as Whitehawk face Broadbridge Heath in the Sussex Senior Cup second round.

However, this could be his only game for a month with the country going into a national lockdown from Thursday meaning he may have to wait until December for his second game.

The Hawks boss admitted it is a rather unusual start to his tenure.

He said: “Well it is a bit of a weird one as we have no training session and then the first game tonight in the Sussex Senior Cup and then as far as that goes from Thursday it looks like we will have a month’s break.

“So, we will look at the video that we have been given of previous games and also keep in touch with the squad during that period.

“For me to start with it is about winning games, moving up the table and getting the confidence back amongst the squad, which comes from winning matches.

“I would love nothing more to have similar success to the last time I was here with Darren as it would just mean the world to me.

“Especially as someone that grew up in Brighton, went to school up the hill and played at Whitehawk.

“To have someone like Tucky with me as well, who went to school with me and played at Whitehawk is great.

“We cannot wait to get started.”