Bridgwater United manager Andy Llewellyn said the abuse the club has received on social media has been “out of order” following the departure of David Pearse.

The Robins announced they had sacked Pearse after seven years in charge, with Llewellyn announced as his successor in a statement published on Twitter earlier this week.

Goalkeeper Jake Viney then announced his exit before owner Ian Davis said on BBC Somerset that he “doesn’t care” if they lost a few fans and told them to stay away if they didn’t want to come to Fairfax  Park.

“I'll be honest with you, it's been an unreal week this week” Llewellyn said after his side’s 1-0 win at Nailsea & Tickenham in the Toolstation Western League Premier on Friday night.

“But some of the abuse, and the things this week on Twitter, and everything else, it’s been out of order.

“You have got to be strong, you have to get on with it and you got to protect the team now. So, basically, we took a lot of criticism this week. 

“A lot of people were waiting for us to fall this weekend but there is no better place to come and win 1-0 away from home. A local game, a good crowd and to be honest, the boys deserved it and they're all happy and singing in the changing room.”

Llewellyn hailed the job Pearse did with the Robins and his side for getting the win after Ross Edwards’ header from captain Jake Lewellyn’s corner in the 58th minute.

“Dave Pearse did a great job and it’s not as I went out and got my own players in, these are all Dave’s players anyway,” he added.

“There's just little things you add to it, like in the second-half they dug in. There are many times this season we've gone 1-0 up or 0-0.

“We let that first goal in and we struggled to get back into the game, where today I just said to the boys keep a clean sheet, we are also going to score a goal, we have so much talent in the team going forward.

“Today that’s exactly what happened, we kept the game 0-0 and then we got our chance from a set piece, scored the goal, then after that we were very professional and did well.”

Llewellyn, also, thanked the number of fans who came down to Fryth Way to support the team.

“Everyone needs supporters, football can't survive without supporters,” he said.

“We had great support here tonight, we can't thank them enough. 

“You have got to draw a line under it now and get on with it. Football's more important and Bridgwater, as a football club, is bigger than any player or manager. 

“There was good support tonight. So, I see they are behind us and hopefully we can move on now to the FA Vase (at Royal Wootton Bassett) next Saturday.”