NEW Gornal Athletic boss Matt Fisher has been tasked with lifting the Peacocks away from the West Midlands Premier League dropzone.

Gornal, who currently sit bottom of the table, have now handed the job to the former Wolverhampton United manager after interviewing a host of candidates in recent weeks.

Fisher replaces Matt Whitehouse in the Garden Walk hotseat and will take charge of the side for the first time when they travel to Wolverhampton Casuals this Saturday.

Whitehouse left the Peacocks due to personal reasons but left them bottom after a winless start to the campaign.

Fisher said he is ready to make the step up after managing in Division Two with Wolverhampton United.

"I think managing in the lower divisions has given me a really good grounding," he said.

"I'm confident in my own ability and feel more than ready to take over at Gornal.

"I'm really pleased to get the job and can now concentrate on getting the team to improve.

"I've been watching some of the games and have already assessed a lot of the players. It is clear we have some very good players already and hopefully we can add to that and get the lads refocused and get their chins up.

"One thing we need to do as a side is work a lot harder. We won't be able to just expect our quality will get us out of danger, we will have to work our way off the bottom as well.

"This club is very ambitious, has good facilities and should be playing at a higher level. But for now we just need to make sure we move away from the bottom of the table.

"The players can't expect to be given too much time because they need to hit the ground running. We need an instant impact from them to show me they deserve a place in the side.

Athletic CEO Kevin Williams says the new manager's only task is to make sure they avoid relegation.

"We were very impressed with him and he actually came very close to getting the job when we gave it to Matt Whitehouse in the summer," he added.

"He is very enthusiastic and is also from Gornal so knows all about the club.

"We have the basis of a good squad made up of our under-21 side and players that our caretaker boss, Rob Walters, brought in. We now want Matt to add to that and then pick up 10 wins that should see us get out of trouble.

"Hopefully he can bring a fresh outlook to the team."