Billingham Synthonia manager Conrad Hillerby says that his immediate priority is to strengthen the team’s defence after being appointed earlier this week.

Hillerby has returned to Northern League management after a break of over two years, when he quit in the summer of 2012 as manager of Norton, whom he helped to promotion from the second division and to the FA Vase quarter finals. Since then he has been coaching in youth football.

“First and foremost, we must get out of this predicament in the bottom three,” he said.

“We’ve conceded 46 goals in 17 league games, so that obviously suggests there’s a problem. It was something I highlighted when I met the players for the first time earlier in the week, they must realise that they have a responsibility when they put the club’s shirt on.

“There’s no point in scoring a couple of goals at one end, and then conceding three or four at the other. We need to cut down on the number of chances that we’re allowing other teams to have, so that’s the first area I’m going to address. We need to start keeping clean sheets, so I’ll be bringing some players in for the spinal areas.”

Synners are currently five points adrift of fourth bottom Celtic Nation, and have only got Sunderland RCA – who have shown signs of improvement recently – and Crook Town below them.

But nevertheless, Hillerby is relishing the challenge to lift one of his old playing clubs.

“I’ve got an affinity with Synners, I was there as a player, and as soon I knew there was an opportunity when Lee Tucker resigned, I applied for the job. I’ve watched them play a few times, and so I’ve been able to look at things from the outside.

“I want to instil a lot of the values that I believe in, the same values that I instilled in the players when I was at Norton. We achieved a lot at Norton partly through that.”

Hillerby will be helped by former Darlington midfielder Paul Campbell, former Synners striker Richie Storr, and Alan Gallifant, and he has already strengthened his squad, by signing midfielder Thom Hinchley and striker Tom Atkinson from Newton Aycliffe.

They got off to a good start in midweek, as they won 3-1 at West Allotment in the league cup.