ROSSENDALE United caretaker boss Phil Eastwood has urged his players to quickly pull together and ease the pressure on the struggling Stags.

The ex-Burnley striker stepped into the breach at Dark Lane after manager Derek Egan quit the club earlier this week.

Egan left after being told by chairman Steve Hobson that the players’ wage bill will be slashed.

And now Eastwood faces the task of reversing the club’s fortunes as they look to end an eight-game winless streak at Colywn Bay tomorrow, and move out of the bottom three of UniBond Division One (North) “The main thing is that we need results,” admits Eastwood. “We’ve not been playing well in recent weeks and we must put a stop to that.

“We’ve got a good squad of players which is more than capable of doing a lot better.

“The players – including myself – know that they’ve put themselves in the position we are in and now we must get out of it.

“The lads have taken that on board and we’re trying to pull together to get us up that league table.”

At 30, Eastwood did not expect to be thrown into management at such an early age.

But the much-travelled Non-League striker, who started his career at Turf Moor, believes it is the right decision for the good of the club.

He added: “Getting into management so soon isn’t something I planned.

“It’s something I wanted to do in the long-term.

“I’ve worked in coaching for a while at colleges and at university, and I’ve got a couple of my badges.

“But because of the circumstances at the club, I thought it was right to give it a go.

“It’s temporary at the moment. Let’s see how things pan out over the next few weeks or so.”

Eastwood continued: “It was a shock to see Derek go so suddenly.

“We weren’t expecting it and we didn’t really want it. He’s a good manager.

“He left because of a cut in the budget, and I’ve spoke to the lads about it.

“So far, they have given me good support and no-one has left. That’s all I can really ask for.”

Following tomorrow’s match at Colwyn Bay, the Stags host Bamber Bridge in the UniBond Presidents Cup on Tuesday.

“Colwyn Bay is never the easiest of games,” said Eastwood. “It’s a long journey and they’ve got some good players.

“But we’ll give it our best shot to get a result.”