JOHN YEMS is glad to be back at Crawley Town for a second spell and brimming with positivity.

He has been handed a deal until the end of the season by League Two Reds following Gabriele Cioffi’s exit by mutual consent on Monday after just one win in 11 league games.

Yems, who is expected to name former Eastbourne Borough boss Lee Bradbury as his No.2 this morning, helped Reds stave off relegation from the National League while in charge along with Ben Judge and Dave Woozley in 2007-08.

He is now hoping to get the fans onboard again after growing unrest saw Cioffi depart and takes charge for the first time away to Stevenage tomorrow.

Yems told The Argus: “The fans were always good to me when we stayed up but they want a successful side the same as everyone else does.

“If we can’t get that it wont be for a want of trying. Nobody goes out there trying to play badly and the same applies to the management and coaching side.

“We’re looking forward - there are no negatives whatsoever.”

After his first Reds spell, Yems was assistant to Exeter manager Paul Tisdale for 18 months from 2009 and then spent six years with AFC Bournemouth as football operations manager, playing a part in their rise to the Premier League before surprisingly being let go in June 2018.

Former Horsham boss Yems has been installed initially to the end of the season but is not looking too far ahead and is just pleased to get the opportunity, which he admits came out of the blue.

He said: “It has just happened. It wasn’t pre-planned or anything like that but being local, knowing many of the boys and knowing what was going on, it was nice to get the call.

“Since I’ve left Bournemouth I have being doing bits and pieces but nothing concrete so it’s nice to be back.”

A successful second half of the season would likely go a long way to securing an extended deal but Yems, who holds a UEFA A coaching licence and has worked with an array of clubs including Fulham, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Torquay and Gillingham, is keeping a narrow focus.

He joked: “The way the game is, I think if I get to the end of the month I’ll be happy!

“Let’s get real, it’s a results business. I’m not getting carried away and all I am looking at is Saturday and then the following game.

“As I’ve said to the players, you know what you want to do and you know where you want to be and that’s where you strive to be but along the way if you don’t work hard at it you’re not going to get anywhere.”

As for targets, Yems is keeping it simple.

“Every game is an immediate target,” he said. “There’s three points available from every game and that’s the target.”

He added: “I can’t wait to be back in the dugout on Saturday and I hope the travelling fans get right behind the team. I want to get the feel-good factor back at the club and have everyone on board and pulling in the same direction.”

One of Yems’ first moves has been to add Dannie Bulman to his management team, although he will also continue in a playing role too. Edu Rubio continues as first-team coach.