Martin Allen was placed on gardening leave on 20 October

Cheltenham Town chairman Paul Baker has said he wants to end uncertainty over the club's managerial situation.

Boss Martin Allen was placed on gardening leave over claims he racially abused a nightclub bouncer, an allegation which he denies.

"We are in the hands of lawyers. Ideally it would be great to try and get something resolved this week," Baker told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

Assistant manager John Schofield is in caretaker charge of the Robins.

Baker added: "We've got to try and do something this week to bring things to a head quicker than might have been the case.

"We've got to be careful we don't knee-jerk and do the wrong thing, so we've got to make sure we do the right thing for the long-term future."

Allen took charge at Whaddon Road in September 2008 but was unable to prevent Town being relegated from League One last season.

After a run of eight games without a win, the latest of which was a 4-0 home defeat to Crewe Alexandra on Saturday, Cheltenham lie 21st in the bottom tier of the Football League.

The cash-strapped Robins are also already out of both the Carling Cup and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, with next weekend's trip to Torquay in the first round of the FA Cup their last chance to go on a money-spinning cup run.

I know there's a long way to go in the season, but we don't want to see games drifting by Paul Baker

"We've got to try and rapidly bring things to a head and move things on, whichever direction that will be," said Baker.

"I know there's a long way to go in the season, but we don't want to see games drifting by. We don't want to be a rudderless ship."

"We've got a massively important game in the FA Cup and we've got to try and do something quick."

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