FORMER vice-chair Fiona Legg is set to answer struggling Christchurch’s call for a new chairperson, the Daily Echo understands.

Legg’s position should be formally ratified at Saturday’s home match with Whitchurch United, the first of eight Sydenhams Wessex League Premier Division fixtures in Priory's battle for survival.

Having been a long-serving committee member at Hurn Bridge, Legg became Mark Duffy’s trusted lieutenant in the summer of 2011 but left due to increased constraints on her time midway through last season.

Work commitments in Jersey prompted Duffy to tender his resignation last month, which the club subsequently accepted before advertising the vacancy on its official website.

The move will be music to the ears of under-fire boss Adie Arnold ahead of the decisive end-of-season run with Priory precariously placed just two points clear of the drop zone having played two more matches than second-bottom Fareham.

When Graham Kemp quit as Christchurch manager in 2013, Legg approached Arnold to take over but he opted to remain with Verwood.

Speaking after Arnold had turned down Priory in May 2013, Legg said: “We are disappointed because we felt Adie would have fitted in well here. But there are no hard feelings and we understand his decision.”

Having left the Potters in March 2014, Arnold replaced Michael Cuffie in the managerial hot seat at the start of the current campaign.

When approached by the Daily Echo, both Legg and the club’s interim chairman, Mick Ryan, politely declined to comment on the speculation.

Meanwhile, Arnold today revealed that first-team coach Andy Darnton had left the club by mutual consent.