Andy Davies insists he has stepped down as St Neots Town manager to give the club the best possible chance of Southern League Premier Division survival.

Davies called time on his reign at the Premier Plus Stadium with Saints sitting one place and one point from safety.

He notified club chiefs of his intention to stand down immediately after a 3-0 defeat at Merthyr Town last Saturday. That was an eighth match without victory in all competitions.

Davies, who did keep Saints up when serving as temporary boss for the second half of last season, said: “The thought of resigning had been there for the past few days and the result on Saturday made up my mind.

“I just don’t feel I’m the best person to take the club forward, and the owner and director of football have understood my reasons. I’m grateful to them for that.

“It is very important in life to be able to recognise your own faults and react accordingly.

“I felt that players needed to move on because they weren’t effecting the team in a positive way, and that is something we have been working on in recent weeks.

“But that same logic also applies to myself as the manager, which is why I have decided to stand aside and allow someone with fresh ideas to come in.

“It is a case of giving the club, and my successor, whoever that may be, as much time as possible to steer themselves away from the relegation zone.

“I’m very proud of guiding the club to safety last season after taking over in a troubled time when the budget was considerably over what it should have been.

“That earned me the chance this year, but through no lack of effort it hasn’t gone to plan.

“I could have stuck on and continued to blame the players for not performing, but that’s not the right thing to do and wouldn’t help anyone in the long run.”

Saints have lost more than half (13 or 23) of their league games this season. They also suffered an early exit from the FA Cup at the hands of lower-level opposition, Stamford AFC, before squandering a potentially lucrative payday in the FA Trophy when dreadful discipline led to a second qualifying round replay defeat at the hands of Marine.

Davies admits a lack of consistency from a new-look Saints squad has been the most frustrating factor of his time in the hotseat - and he believes that must be addressed to ensure the club climbs out of the Premier Division danger zone.

He added: “I’ve probably been too soft on some players when they haven’t performed and that’s been to the detriment of results.

“We have picked up some very good results with the same group of players who have also had some real nightmare defeats along the way.

“Hopefully whoever takes the job on will be able to get more consistency out of the lads as that will be essential in terms of staying up.”

Davies will continue in his full-time role of Academy Manager at St Neots.

Saints have not revealed who will take charge of the first team for their big Huntingdonshire derby showdown at home to St Ives Town tomorrow night, but Lee Clarke, who has assisted Davies, is understood to be set to remain.

Saints are currently one place and one point from safety.