BYRON Anthony is setting his sights on a managerial career after announcing his retirement as a footballer.

The former Cardiff, Bristol Rovers and Newport County defender, who helped the Exiles achieve their dream with promotion from the Conference in 2013, has failed in his bid to recover from a broken leg suffered at Brighton in a Capital One Cup tie in August 2013.

Anthony made his decision to call time on his tenure as a player two months ago and had been waiting to make his announcement following discussions with the Professional Footballers Association.

County manager Justin Edinburgh, who gave Anthony a rolling month-to-month contract in August, has attempted to shield the 30-year old from the media until the player himself was ready to announce his retirement.

And far from being down over having his career cut short, Anthony is positive about his prospects of finding new avenues within football.

“I want to do my badges and try and get involved in the coaching side, it is something I’ve enjoyed, working with Flynny (Mike Flynn),” he said.

“Ultimately I would like to become a manager and that’s the goal I am working towards.

“I couldn’t carry on dealing with the pain on a day-to-day basis, that’s the nature of a double leg break, the rehab is very difficult and you do get your down days, but I’ve been able to overcome that.

“I’ve had setback after setback and it’s the right time to move on. I got to live my dream.”

Anthony is confident the Exiles can thrive this season after moving into the play-off spots with a 3-2 win at Carlisle on Saturday.

“The club are looking strong, our form since the slow start to the season, we don’t want to talk about the play-offs too much, we just need to carry on doing what we are doing and we are on good run at the moment.

“The boys are confident and playing well and Justin is building things the right way, we are where we are deservedly and if everyone stays fit we’ve got every chance of staying in the top seven.

“The confidence is there, the club is building blocks and as long as we can keep that going, that’s the main thing this season.”

County boss Edinburgh has expressed a desire to assist the former Wales U21 man in any way possible.

“I’ve had several long chats with Byron about what he’s going to do next and he’s keen to stay involved in football,” he said.

“We have already had him working behind the scenes with the youth players and it has been a little bit difficult for me because obviously we would like to have been praising the good work he’s been doing, but couldn’t because it raised questions about his playing career he wasn’t ready to answer.

“But Byron has a lot about him and not only does he have our full support, but he has Dragon Park on the doorstep in Newport.”

Anthony was keen to thank Edinburgh especially. “He’s been absolutely fantastic with me, I couldn’t have asked for anymore, he’s been brilliant,” he said.