Jim Nicholls admits he is gutted after work commitments forced him to step down as London Colney manager.

Nicholls was appointed first-team boss in the summer after a year in charge of the reserves but expansion at his insurance company, where he is a director, meant he decided to step aside.

He will be replaced by former London Colney manager Ryan Thomspon, who stood down this summer after three years in charge, which included promotion to Spartan South Midlands Premier Division in his debut campaign and two consecutive seventh-place finishes.

Nicholls leaves the club in a good position, with the Blueboys 12th in the table but with three games in hand on leaders Sun Sports.

Nicholls said: “I have left on good terms. The manager has come back in and I have spent some time with him to make sure he is up to date on the players and how they are getting on.

“I have said to the club that I will still come down to a few of their games when I can.

“I’m pretty gutted to be leaving because we have games in hand and if we won those then we would only be five points off top and we are still in four cup competitions, including the FA Vase.

“But my priorities have changed due to the new project at work and there are so many London Colney games coming up that you need to be working for six or seven days a week. You have to be able to commit fully and I wouldn’t be able to.”

London Colney’s first team did not have a game on Saturday so Thompson’s return fixture should be Saturday’s FA Vase second round tie at home to Northampton Spencer.

The Reserves won 2-0 against Kings Langley on Saturday thanks to an Archie McClelland brace.