WAYNE Thorne says the Chippenham Town players feel like they have had a weight lifted off their shoulders following Tommy Saunders' departure.

Thorne said while Saunders had achieved unrivalled success for the club he felt it was time for a change.

"Tommy had a great time with Chippenham and brought us lots of success," said the full back.

"But the time was right to change it. He had no money to bring new players in and everybody at the club was starting to get down."

Thorne said the players were already starting to enjoy their football again and were hoping to soon be moving back up the league table.

"It has been a big weight off our shoulders probably 15 stones of it to be fair," he added.

"In the last month or so people were getting down and there were a lot of long faces. But we are now all playing with smiles again and we are pulling in the same direction. Mingsy has told us to play without fear of making mistakes and he is leading by example as a player himself.