FORMER Newport County AFC boss Jimmy Dack has been confirmed as the new assistant manager at League Two rivals Crawley Town.

Dack joined the Exiles as assistant to Justin Edinburgh in 2011 and the pair steered the club to promotion via the Conference play-off final at Wembley two years later.

When Edinburgh left for Gillingham in February this year Dack took over as manager at Rodney Parade until the end of the campaign.

But after missing out on the League Two play-offs he says he declined the offer to stay on as manager and he will now join his good friend Mark Yates at Crawley.

Dack, who had two spells as a player with the West Sussex club in 1993-94 and 2001-02, said: “It’s amazing to think that 20 years after I played for the club I am back at Crawley Town as Mark’s assistant.

“The club’s rise into the Football League has been amazing and one I have followed closely and it is now great to be part of Crawley Town again in this role.

“I’m looking forward to working with Mark and the players and I can’t wait now for pre-season and to help get us prepared for the challenges of a new campaign.”

Yates, who took over at the Red Devils this summer after missing out on the County job to Terry Butcher, believes Dack is the ‘perfect fit’ at Crawley.

“I spoke to four people, some who I had worked with before and some who I hadn’t, and Jimmy was the ideal person for this role,” he told the Crawley News.

“He knows a lot about League Two and he has had a taste of being a manager in the last six months, so he has experienced that side of it and knows how I’ll have to think. I think that will stand us in good stead.

“We have always got on well and I just liked his infectious character. He’s a decent coach and I wanted someone with enthusiasm and drive to match mine, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got that with Jimmy.”

Yates added to the Brighton Argus: “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.”

And Yates believes that with Dack, who played for Dorking, Sutton United and Carshalton Athletic among others and lives within half an hour’s drive of the Checkatrade Stadium, will have great local insight.

“He is the perfect fit,” Yates said. “I will be down here 95 per cent of the time, but there will be times when I’m back home with the family but having someone 25 or 30 minutes away is just what we need.

“I think we will work well together despite us having never worked together in the past. He came down and we spoke and I just felt energised and felt like it was the right thing.”

Crawley were relegated to League Two after finishing 22nd in League One last season under the stewardship of former Wales international Dean Saunders.