Jamie Day is clear about where his priorities lie in the opening days of his time as Braintree Town manager.

Having been appointed as successor to Danny Cowley earlier today, the former Welling United boss, who was assistant manager at Forest Green Rovers last year, knows he has a busy few days in front of him.

In an exclusive interview with the Braintree and Witham Times, Day said he would be speaking with all of Braintree's players to assess who would be staying and if any were set to move on.

The new manager is keen to keep as many members of last year's successful squad at the Avanti Stadium as he can, so expects a busy first few days in charge.

He said: "I've come up against most of the boys at Braintree either as a player or in management so I hope that helps in speaking with them and where my plans are with the club.

"We don't want to lose a load of players and have to start from scratch.

"So I'm going to be busy over the next few days speaking to all the boys and we'll then be busy with recruitment where we need to.

"I need to gauge where we're at and sign up as many as I can as quickly as possible.

"No doubt a few will need time to reflect as they've had a long hard season, but we don't want to leave it too long because I'd like a good base of players to go into the next month.

"If I know I have seven or eight signed up then I'll know where I need to fill in the gaps."

Day knows the success of last year as the team finished third in the Vanarama National League may have placed some players on the radar of higher-placed sides or rivals at their own level.

So he is realistic that some may choose to follow former Iron skipper Kenny Davis in departing, however, he is determined to not let his new squad get pulled apart.

"Danny did exceptionally well last year, as did the whole group of players," added Day.

"So it's going to be tough to repeat that, but it's my job to get the boys signed up.

"No doubt a few will move on and that may make it more difficult but the next week or so will make it clear over where we are player-wise.

"Those boys did exceptionally well last year and when you do well as an individual and as a team, you do get noticed.

"I think as a club, we have to brace ourselves that some players are going to move.

"I will do my best to keep the boys we've got because one thing Braintree Town have is a great team spirit and a group who all work for each other.

"You don't want that to be ripped apart."