JOHN Schofield is confident he has all the right credentials to be Cheltenham Town's next manager.

The former Lincoln City boss is in temporary charge of the Robins following the departure of Martin Allen.

The deadline for applications is this Friday, with the club hoping to announce their new manager next week, and at least six applications had been sent in by Saturday evening.

Schofield, who has been invited to apply, took charge of his ninth match at Chesterfield on Saturday, where his side went down 1-0, leaving him with a record of one win and five defeats.

But he insists he needs time to make an impact, having inherited a struggling group of players assembled by Allen during his hapless 15-month reign.

"I can't get any more footballing qualifications than I have got," Schofield said.

"I have done every job at a football club, got Lincoln into the play-offs playing fantastic football, with the highest points and gates they ever had, when I had a pre-season to work with the players.

"I have worked at clubs of similar sizes and I know about budgets and how to borrow from Peter to pay Paul because I have not come from the club we have had loads of money to throw at it.

"I hear all the 'cheap option' shouts, but nobody knows what salary I am on, so how does anyone know it's the cheap option?"

Schofield will have to win over sceptical supporters if he does land the job, but he believes he should be judged when he has put his own team together.

"People have their opinions and the only way you change those is by having a little run at the job and let people see what you are trying to do," he said.

"Whoever gets the job, if they are coming in on a sensible length contract, it'll be a decent job because in June or May they can change the players around.

"It doesn't matter if it's me or Sir Alex Ferguson, it will take time because there isn't going to be hundreds of thousands of pounds to throw around.

"Apart from one player (Marley Watkins), everyone is out of contract and the process should be starting now so we have put plans in motion already."

Schofield said he could not have asked for any more of his players at Saltergate on Saturday, where Jack Lester's header three minutes before half-time consigned Cheltenham to defeat.

"I was devastated to concede from a set-play because that's a cardinal sin," he said.

"We have a young side out there and they are learning on the coalface, not by playing 50 or 60 reserve games.

"They are coming from youth football into the man's game and they have done fantastically well."