The former Hull and Bradford striker was handed his first coaching role by Colin Todd at the Darlington Arena in the summer, but after rebuilding the squad from scratch the pair were sacked after failing to win any of their first nine league matches. The Quakers have now gone 11 games without victory.

Windass said: "Obviously I'm very disappointed how it turned out. We were forced to bring in 20 players and I thought we deserved a bit longer, but it's a results business and if you don't get them, you get the sack.

"I was also disppointed I never got the opportunity myself. If the manager gets the sack his assistant can be given a couple of games to try and turn things round, but it wasn't to be and I respect their decision.

"I'll move on and see what lies ahead. It never phased me, I really enjoyed it, loved it. I know what coaching and management entails. It certainly isn't easy, but I enjoy the long hours. It's something I want to do.

"Me and the wife will end up falling out, I'll have to get something. I've applied for a couple of jobs and unfortunately I've not got them. But I've got my coaching badges and will continue to go to coaching clinics, so we'll see what happens."