NEW Kidderminster Harriers manager Mark Yates is looking to build on the experience he gained during his 18-month stint as Steve Cotterill's right-hand man at Burnley to lead Harriers away from the wrong end of the Nationwide Conference table.

Chairman Barry Norgrove has also pledged the club's board of directors will make a 'substantial amount of money' available to Yates for new players likely to be added before the transfer window slams shut on January 31.

Neither Norgrove nor Yates would confirm any particular transfer targets, or which players, if any, would be leaving the club, but they seem intent on bringing in a few new faces to freshen up the beleaguered squad.

Yates has brought in his close friend Neil Howarth, who was assistant manager at Telford, as his number two, while caretaker-manager Martin O'Connor will remain at the club in a playing capacity.

Yates, 35, would not confirm the length of his contract but admitted it was 'not just until the end of the season'.

He said: "Coming here was an easy decision for me to make because management is what I want to do. For a long time I have wanted to achieve something as a manager and that is what I intend to do here. Steve Cotterill fully understood this, gave me his blessing and wished me well.

"It is going to be hard work, but I will give it 100 per cent. I took my first training session yesterday and really enjoyed working with the lads. They gave Neil and me a great reception. Martin O'Connor was great too and we chatted for about half-an-hour while he filled me in on a few things.

"I am delighted to have Neil here with me as he is someone I've known a long time and can trust."

Yates admitted that he was facing a difficult task to turn the club around, but said he was determined to make a positive start to his reign by picking up three points at Woking today (3pm).

"Hopefully, the club is as low as it can go now -- we can only go up from here and that is what I plan to do. I intend to take the club forward quickly.

"It will be very difficult to get back into the Football League this season from where we are now. There is a good standard of football in this league but we will be looking to win a few games and move up into the top half of the table sooner rather than later. But if we can get a good run going who knows what could happen?"

As a player, Yates received a mixed reaction from some Harriers' fans when he returned to the club following a spell at rivals Cheltenham Town, where he first worked with Cotterill, but he has called for all supporters to get behind the team.

"I expect everyone at the club, especially the fans, to help out and we all need to pull in the same direction. We have got to start winning football matches," he added.