NEW Bradford Town boss Wayne Thorne admits taking responsibility at Trowbridge Road for the remainder of this season will match his ambitions to add another promotion to his CV.

Thorne joins the Bobcats after his predecessor Rob Mallett departed at the start of the month following a four-game losing run, which dropped the club out of the Toolstation League Premier Division’s top five.

Former Larkhall Athletic and Melksham Town boss Thorne first discovered the vacant role on social media before immediately expressing his interest in the job to chairman Mark Hodkinson.

After watching Town lose 2-1 at Chipping Sodbury, Thorne entered talks with the club before accepting the role last Friday – 24 hours prior to Bradford’s league clash against Wellington.

“The job has matched my ambition,” said Thorne.

“I won the league five years ago, and I haven’t come to Bradford to sit in the Western League.

“I’ve come here to win promotion. They’ve been in the league now for several years and have been competitive.

“My job is to take them to the next stage. I’ve got a plan in place because it’s a project, and my main aim is to get the team into the Southern League.”

His arrival prompted an immediate reaction from Town’s players, who recorded a comfortable 3-1 win against Wellington after initially going behind.

Joseph Chamberlin opened the scoring for the hosts before Will Hailston equalised in the first half.

Daniel Price scored on the hour mark for Thorne’s men before Jason Henley’s late strike secured the Bobcats all three league points.

The display impressed Thorne, who believes the score flattered Wellington.

He said: “We got involved on Saturday afternoon and laid out how we expected the lads to play and what we expected from them commitment wise.

“After conceding early, the lads responded well – they were superb. We could’ve been three or four goals up at half-time.

“We then dominated the second half and 3-1 flattered Wellington. Without working with the players, to get that reaction was very surprising and I was very happy.”

Without getting ahead of himself, though, Thorne underlined the importance of his players maintaining standards throughout the season if they are to push for promotion.

A fifth-placed finish under Danny Greaves last season was the club’s highest-ever finish since forming in 1992.

And achieving that feat, or more, this season will come only with hard work and dedication, admits Thorne, whose side followed up with a 3-1 Wiltshire Senior Cup triumph over Corsham Town on Wednesday evening.

He said: “The players have set standards now, and they have to keep those standards for me to remain happy.

“I was happy on Saturday, and we all know that the group of players can do it. The fact this group lost several games on the spin shows something wasn’t quite right.

“That form won’t be accepted now. The lads have been told what I expect from them. Hopefully, we can move in the right direction.”