NEW boss Carl Abbott is under no illusions over expectation levels at Evesham United – even if the club has yet to stipulate its targets.

Abbott was unveiled as the new man in charge of the Robins on Wednesday, nine days after the sacking of long-serving predecessor Paul Collicutt.

Evesham finished seventh in Southern League Division One South, missing out on the play-offs that had been reached in three of Collicutt's five seasons in charge.

And while talk has yet to turn to specifics about where United should be, there will be no shocks in store for the new man.

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Asked about his remit, Abbott said: “We haven’t talked about that yet, I have a meeting with the club next week where we will drill down into those things.

“I know the history of the club, it quite rightly feels it is a stable step three club and has been at step four for a little while.

“Paul’s tenure has been rather impressive in hitting the play-offs. They missed out this season but from the bits of conversations I have had the feeling was it slipped back a bit, that the appetite for change came from that more than just missing out on the play-offs.

“Maybe performances and style of football hadn’t been where it was, things like that. Quite clearly the club wants to get out of that league, that conversation is still to come but I don’t need a crystal ball to know what they want and that’s the challenge I have bought into."

Birmingham-based Abbott steps up a level having led Quorn to sixth spot in the Midland Football League with strong records at Wolverhampton Casuals and Hinckley AFC and a brief stint at Market Drayton Town also on his CV.

He applied and got interviewed on Monday and despite then receiving a follow-up phone call, still did not expect to get the gig.

“I made the approach and they said they wanted me to come in for a chat. We are quite aligned in our ideas and I thought they were impressed by my enthusiasm," said Abbott.

“To be honest it got to the point where I thought they might be going with a more southern-based manager but I had a call from Mr Cockerton (chairman) asking if I would be willing to take it on.

“They took their time to weight it up and I feel very fortunate. It feels like a good fit all round.

“It was something I could not turn down. It is exciting for me to get back to the level I believe I am very comfortable at and build on the excellent work Paul has done over the past five years.

“There are some good building blocks in place and I cannot wait to get started."