UNCERTAINTY surr- ounds Wantage Town following the resignation of manager Stuart Cattell.

Cattell, who is carrying on as a player, quit following the Alfredians’ 1-0 defeat to Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West leaders Hereford on December 10.

His assistant, Ben Sadler, was in charge of the team in their disastrous 9-0 hammering at home to Taunton Town on Saturday.

The club have declined to make any public statements on the situation or the future progress of the club, who are perilously placed near the bottom of the table.

Cattell, who played in the Taunton game, took up the post as player-manager in November 2015 on an interim basis, before being installed permanently in the role the following month.

Speaking about his resignation, he said: “It was a decision taken with a very heavy heart.

“It’s not something I just did overnight, it’s something I’ve had to think long and hard about.

“I’ve been at the club for six years, closing in on seven, so it’s been a big part of my life.

“But I just felt it was probably best for the club if I stepped away. It wasn’t something I wanted to do.

“In the last couple of weeks we’ve lost three or four players and we just couldn’t replace them,” he added.

“I’ve tried without any luck to find suitable replacements, but I just didn’t have the time to do it any more. It’s always been a struggle to bring in players of the necessary standard.

“Whenever we unearth a good player they’re poached by someone else and it’s very hard to replace them.

“Hopefully this will give the chance to someone else, who maybe has a few more contacts and can build a team.

On Saturday, Wantage kept the visitors at bay for the first 25 minutes before the floodgates opened.

There were hat-tricks for Owen Irish and Ross Staley, while Taunton’s other goals came from Craig Duff, who scored twice, and Matt Wright.

Wantage’s next game is a trip to near-neighbours Didcot Town on Boxing Day.