RUSSELL Earnshaw hopes to remain in charge at Damson Park despite the club’s relegation from the RFU Championship.

The director of rugby has already held discussions with chairman and chief backer Chris Loughran about ‘‘righting the wrongs’’ of what has been a painful season.

Earnshaw saw his side slip out of the second tier when they lost 23-14 to Moseley on Sunday and they are now facing life in National One without any funding from the RFU.

But while he accepts that will mean a massive turnover in players, he has revealed he wants to be an answer rather than one of many problems and has already turned his mind to the make up of next season’s squad.

“I have chatted with Chris about it, I certainly wouldn’t want to walk away from it but we will see what happens,” he said.

“We have lost a few boys already, we have got a lot of guys who are local and have been at the club for a while and we want to keep as many as possible.

“There is going to be a financial element to relegation, we have got to see what that impact is and prepare accordingly. I am hoping we can still keep the link with Northampton which has been good, Sandy [Dan Sanderson] had another good game for us.

“And maybe get a few of their younger kids and keep that alive, maybe still see [Mark Hopley] Hoppers’ face down here – we have got ways and means.”

Earnshaw also admitted he felt personally responsible for Bees’ demotion and the fact that despite assembling a stronger squad than last season they were still unable to escape the bottom of the table for a second year running.

“I am gutted, I love the club, I love the people associated with it but I feel like I have let them down a bit,” he confessed,

“I thought we had a bit of a hangover from last season at the start of the year, we had a few core injuries, we lost a couple of players I allowed to go upwards.

“We have had flashes, we have had the Worcester match at home, Doncaster, Bristol but it’s not enough.

“Flashes isn’t enough at this level. You have got to be consistent and we have lacked that, it’s my fault – I am in charge.”

The club released a statement from Loughran yesterday saying they will not be rushed into making decisions.