And although Garry Hunter hopes his stint as caretaker is short, still wants to leave an indelible mark.
Lancaster City v Northwich Victoria
The FA Trophy
Preliminary round
Giant Axe Stadium
3pm Saturday 3 October 2015
Former QPR and Newcastle United defender Peacock, together with his assistant – former England winger Trevor Sinclair – left Lancaster on Monday following their FA Cup exit to Droylsden.
After being informed of their departure by text message Hunter, 30, and 31-year-old team-mate Danny Carlton were immediately asked by director Mark Knight to take charge and they oversaw a 2-2 draw with Farsley Celtic on Tuesday – Hunter putting through his own net in the dying minutes.
Knight has stated he hopes managerial matters are settled “in a week or two” which has come as music to the ears of former Morecambe midfielder Hunter.
Despite only having one training session with his players before the FA Trophy tie, Hunter still has big ambitions.
“I have my own ideas about how you should prepare for a game, so it will be a different to what Darren did,” said Hunter, with Lancaster since leaving Barrow in 2013.
“Hopefully the lads will respond to that. There is a bit of pressure, it’s my first ever game as a manager. But I know the lads will be great.
“I don’t want to take the job permanently, I’m too busy and it’s not the right time for me. I’m only 30, so I want to continue playing.
“Management is something that interests me once I have stopped playing. It might be at Lancaster, but you never know what will happen.
“I have played against Northwich for the last two years, so I know they have a good team and are flying this year.
“But this is not a league game, so the pressure is off in that respect. We had a disappointing result last week, so it’s down to the players to make up for that. Hopefully we should be allright.”
In the opposite dugout to Hunter will be a man that boasts years of managerial experience by contrast.
Jim Gannon has spent more than a decade in hot-seats around Britain, the highlight on his CV leading Scottish Premier League side Motherwell in the Europa League.
“I can say that I still get the same satisfaction when I see my team performing well”
Jim Gannon Northwich manager
But since December 2013 Northwich has been Gannon’s home and the 47-year-old says he still enjoys the job as much as ever.
“It’s still a buzz, just a different one,” said the former Stockport, Peterborough and Port Vale boss.
“I was in the Championship with Peterborough and in the Premiership with Motherwell, going to places like Ibrox and playing Steaua Bucharest in Europe – they were exciting occasions and great challenges.
“I came out of the game for almost a year and took a bit of a break, but I was asked to take control of the team and I can say that I still get the same satisfaction when I see my team performing well.
“We have made a good start to the season and we want to keep that going in the FA Trophy – that is our aim for the competition.
“We wanted to make sure we didn’t lose to a team we shouldn’t be losing against, a lower league team, now it’s about keeping the form going and you take it round by round.
“It might not be a competition we can win, but we want to give the best account of ourselves always.”
