Penrith say they want their new manager to drive the club in all areas as well as steer them up Northern League Division One.

Applications for the Frenchfield Park post close today and the club hope to make an appointment next week.

It follows Andy Coyles’ resignation, with former Workington boss Dave Hewson remaining in caretaker charge.

He will continue at the helm for Penrith’s Cumberland Cup second round tie at Gosforth tomorrow.

Penrith chairman Brian Williams said Hewson, who guided Penrith to a 3-0 win against Ashington last weekend, was holding the fort well.

But he said the decision on the long-term post will involve a number of considerations.

Interviews with leading contenders are set to be held next week.

Williams said: “It’s a results game and Dabber [Hewson] can’t do any more than he did last Saturday.

“But there is a long-term look at it as well.

“When we relocated to Frenchfield Park 10 years ago, we were running eight teams. Now we’re running 29 teams. Every weekend there’s over 300 people representing the club.

“It’s really grown that way. We’re bucking the trend. But that cannot be done without the volunteers we have behind the scenes.

“We’ve got much better relations with our landlords, Eden District Council, to what we had before. The new executive seems to be much more on board with what we want to do, regarding the community.

“We want to be classed as very much a community club and we will want the new manager to drive that as well.”

Coyles stepped down to “explore other opportunities” after a year in charge, with Penrith third bottom of the table.

He said he had enjoyed his time in charge but said the club “must look to improve in a number of areas”.

Coyles added: “In order to be successful not just in football but in life, you need to treat people with respect, show humility towards others and treat people how you wish to be treated.

“In order for the club to move forward, it’s important that all three senior teams promote these principles to the younger generation, encouraging complete buy-in from both the coaching staff and the players.”

Former manager Williams said: “It’s a very difficult thing when you do change managers. Over our last two or three seasons we’ve had a number of lads in the job and they’ve found it very difficult.

“Andy played his part and he’s a top-class coach, but carrying it forward to the man-management side, I think he realised after a year that it’s a completely different ball game.

“With me having experience of doing the job myself I do realise how difficult it is operating at this level, and the geographical challenge. The culture of young players nowadays too, whether they don’t have the ambition to play at a higher level and are happy just to play with their mates, is something you have to accept.

“Hopefully the lads will buy into whoever comes along. The next two weeks are vital, as we have matches against clubs down at the bottom with us.”

Tomorrow’s game at Gosforth kicks off at 1.30pm.

Peter Murphy’s Annan Athletic tomorrow host third-placed Cowdenbeath hoping to bounce back from last weekend’s 4-0 defeat at Elgin in Scottish League Two.

That followed the Galabankies’ Scottish Cup replay win at Brechin which earned them a third round trip to Edinburgh City on November 23.

Carlisle City are at home to Easington Colliery tomorrow after their midweek game at Crook Town was postponed for a second time due to a waterlogged pitch.