NEW Dudley Town boss Dean Whitehouse said he has given his players some ‘home truths’ as he attempts to save the club from relegation.

Whitehouse is no stranger to The Robins having had a brief spell in charge of the first team following the departure of Mark Kavanagh in the late 2000s.

But he re-joins the club following a highly successful spell in charge of Black Country rivals Tividale, whom he led to the West Midlands League Premier Division title in 2011.

Whitehouse said he would love to replicate his Tivi success with Town, but the main priority this season will be keeping his new side up.

“I met the lads for the first time on Saturday and I told them what I thought of their recent performances,” the first team manager said. “I gave them some home truths and some of the players might not like that, but that is what I felt this side needs.

“There needs to be a shake up and that is what I’ve been tasked to do. If I’m totally honest, I think the youth side here is better than the first team.

“The youth set up is brilliant and we have some great young kids coming through, so I will definitely be looking at giving them playing time.

“I think that is the way forward for Dudley Town as we can’t go out and spend loads of money on a new team – as we haven’t got any – so we have to work with the players we’ve got.

“Obviously the aim this season will be to avoid going down. If we can do that then we can start building for next season.”

Whitehouse, who has been out of the game since leaving Tividale in 2013 due to a family illness, has taken over the reins from caretaker managers Ash Horton and Andy Arnold.

And the new boss has already made his first addition by hiring Richard Taylor to his backroom staff as player coach.

“I’ve had a lot of offers from a lot of clubs,” Whitehouse said. “But this one just felt like the right one, at the right time, to get back into it.

“I’ve got my staff in place and I’ve made a few calls to bring in a bit of experience that I think is missing from the team.

“If the right players are there for the right money then we will look at bringing them in.”

He added: “I’m under no illusions as to how tough this job will be but I’m looking forwards to it. We can only go forwards as we can’t get much worse.”

Whitehouse will take control of his new side for the first time on Wednesday night as Town visit Nuneaton Griff in the Birmingham Midweek Floodlit Cup, before a league fixture at AFC Bridgnorth on Saturday (3pm kick-off).

While in a bid to resolve their current pitch issues at The Dell, the West Midlands League have granted permission for The Robins to play their home ties at the Handrahan Stadium in Wall Heath until the end of January.