STEPHEN Vaughan admits he had to put Chester City's survival before popularity and bring back Mark Wright.

The Blues chairman says he did not have any hesitation in replacing sacked boss Keith Curle with Wright, who quit the club in acrimonious circumstances on the eve of the 2004-05 season.

Vaughan said: 'We all know what we're getting with Mark. When we made the appointment we didn't expect to be winning any popularity contests.

'The main reason for appointing Mark is that this club needs a good shake up. No-one can do that any better than Mark Wright.

'We've appointed someone who's going to come in and do exactly what's necessary to make sure this club is in the Football League next year.

'We're paying top-five money and we expect to be in the top five. When we're in the bottom five paying top five money, it's just totally unacceptable.'

Curle was relieved of his duties immediately after Saturday's 2-0 home defeat to Leyton Orient - City's 12th defeat in 14 games.

Vaughan revealed it took him less than 48 hours to seal Wright's surprise return to the Saunders Honda.

He met Wright on Sunday before tying him to a contract that runs until the end of the season on Monday morning.

The Chester chairman promised: 'Mark regrets the minute he left the club. Personalities won't get in the way this time.

'Mark's never failed as a manager. You'll see massive shake up in the squad and you'll see better performances from individuals.'

Wright, 42, first took over as manager in 2002 and won 63 (53%) of his 120 games, reaching the Nationwide Conference play-offs in his first full season and winning promotion back to the Football League as champions the following campaign.

His relationship with the Blues turned sour in August 2004, when he walked out just a day before their League Two opener at Notts County.

Both parties issued conflicting comments over the manager's exit, with Chester claiming it was for 'non-footballing' reasons and Wright saying it was 'totally for footballing reasons'.

Wright went on to manage Peter-borough but was sacked last month on the grounds of gross misconduct.

He has launched a legal action against the Posh for alleged breach of contract and the harm caused to his reputation.

Vaughan refused to dwell on Wright's much-publicised departure from Chester, saying: 'It's all water under the bridge. He's back in office - now let's get on with it.'

The former Liverpool and England defender is delighted to be back and is looking forward to the challenge of revitalising the Blues.

Wright said: 'The chairman's brought me in to try to stop the decline and change it round and get positive again. I think the most important thing is getting three or four wins to ensure safety and then start building for next year.

'Any side that goes into freefall, it's very hard to pick them up and change that round.'