KEITH Hill and David Flitcroft did not hang around when it came to putting themselves forward to revive Bolton Wanderers’ fortunes.

Chairman Sharon Brittan has revealed their names jumped towards the top of the list a matter of minutes after Football Ventures’ takeover at the University of Bolton Stadium was complete.

The Bolton-born pair, who worked together at Rochdale and Barnsley, will take charge of their new-look side for the first time at Rotherham United today. “They were candidates that were put forward an hour after completion!” said Brittan.

“They were very, very keen. I admired their tenacity and I admired their enthusiasm and met with them very quickly.

“There were other candidates and there were other candidates who were very talented but for me, these guys were right for the job and two weeks down the line I’m excited about how they are settling in.

“Now we’re incredibly excited to go to Rotherham and watch the first game.”

Brittan was heartened by both the volume and quality of potential bosses that came forward, the lure of managing Wanderers seemingly not diminished by their position adrift at the foot of the League One table.

“There were other candidates on the table and what was clear from the interview process was that everybody was very, very keen to take up this position,” she said. 

“There was certainly never any worry of ‘will anyone want to do this job?’.

“From my perspective, if I was a manager, I would love this opportunity. It’s a huge challenge at a huge club.”

The task facing the homegrown management duo is a daunting one but Brittan has joined Hill and Flitcroft in not ruling out an unlikely survival bid.

The new owners have arrived at the UniBol with a three-year plan but in terms of aims, the new chairman is only focused on this season and seeing if Wanderers can pull off the greatest of escapes while there is some much-needed stability off the field.

“We have to be real,” Brittan said.

“We’re going to do everything that we can to stay up this season but it’s a mountain.

“We can’t underestimate that. But we’re here to have that fight which is brilliant and I’m delighted about that.

“We’re going to put a team together that we believe will show us on a Saturday afternoon that it’s not an impossible dream. It’s a tall order, but it’s not impossible.

“We have the three-year plan but my thoughts are for this season. There’s a lot of work to be done here. I can go on and dream but I’m not going to tell you my dreams.

“For now we’ve got such a big task ahead of us, we’ve got to hunker down and get everything sorted on and off the pitch.”