Crawley Town boss Mark Yates believes he has landed the “perfect” assistant in Jimmy Dack.

The former Reds midfielder, pictured below, was confirmed as the first member of Yates’ backroom staff after he arrived back from holiday in Cyprus yesterday.

Yates has never worked with Dack, who played more than 100 games in Crawley’s midfield in two spells, before but had been keen to team up with the 43-year-old since meeting him at Cheltenham races two years ago.

Yates said: “I remember we talked non-stop about football all day so when this came up he was one of the first people I wanted to speak to. We’ve been pals ever since and although I spoke to a number of other good people, once I had talked to Jimmy it was a no-brainer really.

“It just felt right and I am sure it is going to work. He is a worker and a grafter and the fact he has got the Crawley Town connection too meant it was perfect.

“I know I am not going to have the biggest backroom staff so it was important I made the right decision and we are already starting to show we can work together.”

Dack played for Crawley in 1993-94 and 2001-02 in a career spent solely in non-league before becoming Justin Edinburgh’s assistant at Newport County in 2011.

The 43-year-old took over as manager at Newport when Edinburgh left in February but turned down the chance to stay in South Wales at the end of the season.

Yates added: “Jimmy could have stayed at Newport but he knows he wants to be an assistant rather than a manager. It suits him better as he is a real people person and is a really good coach too.”

Dack is delighted to be back at the Crawley 13 years after his second spell as a player came to an end but admits the club is very different to the one he left in 2002.

He said: “It’s amazing to think that 20 years after I played for the club I am back. The club’s rise into the Football League has been amazing and one I have followed closely. It is great to be part of Crawley Town again in this role.”

Yates has been in constant contact with Dack while on holiday as they identify potential targets and hopes to make his first signing in “the next few days”.

He will also seek answers from out of contract trio Josh Simpson, Conor Henderson and Kelly Youga early next week after they were offered new short-term deals.

Yates said: “I understand the clamour from supporters for signings but I said from the start it would be a slow process. We are looking at three specific positions. We need a keeper or two, a centre back and a central midfielder then we can build from there. Hopefully in the next few days we will start making inroads into what we want.”