Braintree Town are looking to Glen Driver to be the man to provide the long-term stability they need after appointing the former Leiston boss as their new manager.

Driver has taken the hotseat at Cressing Road following the departure of former boss Danny Searle to Aldershot Town last month and chairman Lee Harding feels the new man is a good fit as they look to steady their ship after a traumatic few years.

This is the fourth summer in the last five that Braintree have had to conduct a managerial hunt and the club want a boss in place who wants to stay and not leave after only a short period at the helm.

Driver, like Brad Quinton did two years ago, arrives at the Iron after seeing managerial success in step three of the non-league pyramid.

As well as seeing success in the Bostik League premier division with Leiston, when he led them to the play-offs and the club's highest-ever finish, he also took them to a first-ever Suffolk Premier Cup title as they beat Bury Town 3-0 in the final at Ipswich Town's Portman Road ground in May 2018.

And Harding feels the new man has the hunger that is needed to now prove himself in the National League's second tier.

The Braintree chairman said: "Glen was manager at Leiston in the noughties and he came back three years ago.

"They narrowly missed the Isthmian League premier division play-offs in his first season, but did it in his second when they finished fifth before being beaten by the same Dulwich Hamlet side that put us out of the Trophy in the play-offs.

"They were doing well last year and were up to fourth (after switching to the Evo-Stik Southern League premier central), but Glen decided to leave last October after not agreeing with the direction that he felt the club were heading.

"So he comes to us with a good pedigree.

"He was one of the people who applied for the job last year when Hakan (Hayrettin) got it, but at that time we were in the Conference Premier and were looking for someone with top-flight experience, but now we have been looking for someone aspiring to be in the Conference South and Glen fits that profile.

"I have always preferred managers who are coming up from a level below and are staring up at the stars.

"Glen ticks all the boxes for us and that has been shown in the number of chats that we have had.

"Glen sees it as a project at Braintree and not just as a one-season wonder, which is exactly what we need right now. "He was at Leiston for three years and if you look at when we've been at our most effective, it was when Alan Devonshire was with us for four years.

"We're not saying to him get us top by Christmas and champions by Easter, we are saying work with us and put in place a framework that gets the club ready to go back into the Conference Premier when we can take advantage of income streams that will come with a new ground when it comes.

"Having said that, though, Glen is a winner and does not like getting beaten.

"Neither do we, so I really think he will do well."

During his playing career, Driver was a prolific forward with local clubs including Witham Town, Halstead Town and Stanway Rovers.

Driver will be joined at Braintree by experienced first-team coach Tony Kinsella.