NEVILLE SOUTHALL has made it clear that, come what may, he would like to remain in charge of Dover Athletic next season. Southall’s initial agreement with the club was that he would be in charge until the end of the season after taking over just before Christmas.

But the former Everton goalkeeping legend insists that, even if Dover are relegated from the Conference, he would like to stay on as manager at Crabble.

He said: “I’d like to stop here no matter what happens. I’m happy living in this area, I like the club and I like the players. The only thing that’s spoiling my life at the moment is our results.

"But survival is not beyond us yet. There are still 14 games to go and everyone has got to get behind us in our bid to complete a great escape. Let’s not resign ourselves to relegation when there’s still a chance of staying up. Ideally, I’d like to have more time - but we shouldn’t panic yet.”

Southall, already looking beyond the immediate relegation battle, added: “I want to create a feeling within the club so that, come the end of the season, nobody wants to leave no matter what happens."

“I think if we stay up this club will be a lot better off next season and if we go down we’ll be strong enough to come straight back.”