Former Waltham Abbey boss Martin Hayes has revealed he decided to resign as he felt the club might do better with someone else at the helm and he didn’t want to be stubborn by remaining in charge.

With just two wins from 27 Isthmian Division One North games, the former Arsenal and Celtic attacker leaves the Abbotts bottom of the table and six points from safety.

The final straw was a 4-1 defeat at Brightlingsea Regent last Tuesday with Hayes announcing his decision to the players after the game.

Speaking to the club’s website, the 49-year-old explained why he had left Capershotts after only being appointed last summer.

He said: “Although the chairman’s been great it’s about results and how you play. I sensed that what we were doing wasn’t working and I’m maybe not getting the best out of the players,” he said.

“I felt that maybe it would be best for the club to get somebody in to do it a bit differently, get a few different players in and give them a chance of getting the results needed to make sure the club stay up. That’s what I want.

“I didn’t want to be stubborn and keep plugging away for another six or seven games until it’s possibly too late, because I don’t want to see the club go down.”

Abbey haven’t tasted success in any competition since a 3-1 cup win over Chalfont St Peter in October but Hayes wasn’t feeling any pressure.

“It’s weird because I’ve been sacked for doing better than what I have now, which highlights how good the chairman is,” he explained.

“He’s a good man and very supportive. I have a lot of respect for John (Martin) and what he has done for the club.

“I was desperate to do well and turn it around but we slipped back into the bad habits and that comes back to me, so I just felt that it was the right time to give someone enough games to make an impact.

“We’ve lost games we could’ve drawn and drawn games we could’ve won. We could easily be sitting on 10 or 12 more points right now but it’s small margins.

“We’ve not got a massive squad and certain injuries have hurt us – losing Chris [Assombalonga] losing Ellis [Lentell] we lost a bit of attacking momentum and that hurt us because we were struggling to create enough good chances and put the ball in the net. It’s not easy to find other players that can come in and play the way we want to play.

“Although it’s not desperate at the moment it’s getting quite serious.”

Waltham Abbey return to action at Phoenix Sports on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Redbridge travel to Great Wakering Rovers.