Chairman Lee Harding is very pleased with the continuity that having Danny Searle on board as Braintree Town manager offers them after the surprise departure of former boss Hakan Hayrettin this week.

With the Iron still sat bottom of the Vanarama National League table, Hayrettin has left to join the managerial team at the side perched just one place above them - Maidstone United - but his assistant manager has stepped straight up to take the reins.

Hayrettin's final game in charge of Braintree was their 4-0 demolition of Barnet last weekend and Searle's first game at the helm will be a trip to Hartlepool United on Saturday.

Searle appears to be the ideal candidate; despite this being his first managerial role, he is a highly-regarded coach who is in the process of completing his UEFA Pro Licence qualification and the former West Ham Academy coach is well-respected by the players at Braintree.

And the continuity that he offers makes him a popular choice to take charge for Harding and the Iron's board.

The chairman said: "I've spoken with Danny and given the progress that we've had recently and to have continuity, I think it is a real plus that he's agreed to step up to be first team manager as long as we're happy for him to do it.

"He is very keen to take the chance and he was someone who actually applied for it when we appointed Hakan.

"We didn't know Danny then, but he came very highly recommended and he is an extremely well-qualified coach.

"So we'll have the same staff and the same players going forward and that continuity has to be good."

Harding said the club's board would have a formal meeting on Thursday night, but initial conversations with fellow board members had shown that they were behind Searle's appointment and while that remained, there would be no formal application process for a new manager.

He added: "We've had a chat and, as things stand, we know Danny and have all been impressed by what he has done.

"If he is happy to continue then we will continue with it.

"Why would we change it?

"If things change over the next eight or nine games then we may find we have to review it, but we are backing Danny and the players are responding so that has to be positive."

Harding is also hoping, with the team's upturn in form recently, that the continuity of management will lead to continuity within their playing resources and players - both those permanently with the club and loanees - will be happy to stay and fight for the Iron's place in the top flight of non-league football.

He said: "There will inevitably be players within the squad who have been introduced by Hakan or by friends of Hakan, but my understanding of the rules for non-contract players is such that you can't make more than one seven-day approach in a 28-day period.

"So I don't envisage a mass exodus of players heading to Maidstone.

"If people come to us and say they don't want to be here because Hakan has left, then we will have to work around it, but I'm hoping that won't be the case.

"We'll be speaking with the players to let them know the situation and hopefully they will want to stay and continue working with Danny.

"The coaching won't change as Danny has been doing it for the last few months.

"There will be aspects of man-management that will be new, though, and we'll help Danny with that and I know that he is popular with the players.

"He has been very enthusiastic about the chance that he has.

"There is also the plus that the fixture list has been kind to us as, after the game at Hartlepool on Saturday, we will have a two-week break and that will give Danny time to work on things he needs to.

"After the game at Hartlepool, we will have 15 cup finals and we want to get as many points as we can."