PAUL Carden has assured Warrington Town supporters of his commitment to the club amid rumours linking him with a move away.

It was reported elsewhere that he had applied for a vacancy at Chester, where he has previously played, created by the dismissal of Jon McCarthy.

Blues appointed former Grimsby and Solihull manager Marcus Bignot on Wednesday, but Carden insisted he was not in contention to take over.

“I feel we’re building something at the club and I want us to succeed,” he said.

“There’s been a bit of contact from Chester, but I’m staying where I am.

“I’m really happy and I’m really enjoying my job. I want to stay and I want to succeed with Warrington Town.

“I’ve told the chairman that and that’s all there is to say on it.”

Carden saw his Yellows side bow out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night with a 2-0 defeat to Hyde United in a second qualifying round replay.

A return to Evo-Stik Premier Division action awaits on Saturday with a trip to struggling Halesowen Town, kick off 3pm, followed immediately by Tuesday’s home clash with fellow high-flyers Stourbridge, kick off 7.45pm.

Town could return to the top of the league with victory on Saturday and Carden is keen for his side to avoid dwelling on their cup exit.

“I’m disappointed and there were a lot of disappointed players in the dressing room at Hyde,” he said.

“Some of them were told exactly how I felt but we cannot affect that game now.

“We have to move forward from it and that starts on Saturday. We are going to Halesowen to win and go back to the top of the league.”

Yellows will have to make the trip to the Midlands without top scorer Tony Gray, who faces a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hyde in the original cup tie at Cantilever Park.

However, the news on midfielder Dylan Vassallo’s back injury is better and Carden hopes to have him available soon.

“We had Dylan checked out on Monday. It’s just a soft tissue injury in his back so hopefully he’s not too far off,” he said.

“Tony will probably be the best part of a month as his hamstring injury is a bad one.

“We’ll have to let it settle down and assess it from there.

“You’re always going to miss a player like Tony Gray but there are other players who have to step up now to make sure we cope.”