While Hakan Hayrettin is helping out in the short-term as Braintree Town's caretaker manager at the moment, Iron chairman Lee Harding isn't ruling out a longer term position for the former boss if his current role proves a success.

Harding said he has been impressed by the applications that have been made so far for the position that became vacant following the departure of Brad Quinton, but said Hayrettin would not be out of the running for a permanent return despite his previous time at the club ending with the team's relegation from the National League in 2017.

The Iron chairman said: "Hakan has done us a big favour in taking the caretaker's position short-term and we do genuinely appreciate it because he has come in at a difficult time and is doing a good job for us.

"If he loses the next two or three games then that will probably be it, but if he wins the next ten then he will have put himself in a strong position for the job.

"He is helping us out at the moment and hopefully it will come good and he will enjoy it.

"He's doing a good job for us at the moment and has brought in a coach - Danny Searle - and he got the players well organised for the Essex Senior Cup game so it was a good start for him."

That Essex Senior Cup tie saw Hayrettin lead the team to a 4-0 victory against Canvey Island to book a place in the fourth round.

It was a strong Iron side that was fielded and Harding said he was impressed with how the players reacted after a meeting that he had with them ahead of the tie.

He added: "We had a good chat with the players before the start of the game and I said obviously Brad had gone and we had to move on.

"I said we felt we needed to make the change, but I also emphasised that we all had to take blame, from us in the boardroom, to the staff and the players themselves because once they go over the white line, then it doesn't matter what Brad had laid out for them, if they weren't doing it then it became difficult.

"But I said we had to park the first 15 games because what's done is done and that everyone had a clean sheet and that's when the smiles started coming out again.

"I told them that anyone who did not want to be with us would be released.

"But no-one has left the club, so we put out a strong side to face Canvey Island and started the rebuilding process."